Part 5 thread of saga...
D.C. Attorney stabbed multiple times in the back while staying in room 400 at the Donovan Hotel.
Who did it? And why? is the topic of the discussion.
(Poached above synopsis from part 4 thread, linked below)

Someone get this girl a personal trainer. I understand we don't want to promote anorexia or anything, but if you are in the public eye, it shouldn't be staring at your hips.
Push away from the table, honey- and please don't go near a beach!

I'm watching this now and laughing since in an All-American girls baseball league, there's no insinuation that any of these women are lesbians. They are all waiting for their "husbands" to return from war. Yeah, ok..

I'm thinking about moving to the city after early retirement, but I'm concerned about its economic stability. I also understand it's facing a major water crisis. What are the problems and benefits of living there?

Unlike every other person who works for the federal government, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thought she was exempt from establishing and using a government e-mail account to conduct federal business. To make matters worse, her aides failed to preserve any of her e-mails (in violation of federal law), thereby destroying federal records.
Nobody--not Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax, or FoxNews--fuels the Clinton conspiracy machine more than Bill and Hillary Clinton. The latter will continue to have her cheerleaders who want her to run in 2016. However, I expect her political career to die a death from 1,000 cuts when all is said and done (with the Clinton Global Initiative rendering the most damage.)

How the Oscar winners do fall.
Sorvino is now starring in the upcoming DO YOU BELIEVE, from the creators of last year's GOD'S NOT DEAD, along with such luminaries as Sean Astin (boy, that LOTR franchise did nothing for his career), Ted McGinley, and Lee Majors.
Here's the plot description from IMDB:
"A dozen different souls-all moving in different directions, all longing for something more. As their lives unexpectedly intersect, they each are about to discover there is power in the Cross of Christ ... even if they don't yet believe it. When a local pastor is shaken to the core by the visible faith of an old street-corner preacher, he is reminded that true belief always requires action. His response ignites a faith-fueled journey that powerfully impacts everyone it touches in ways that only God could orchestrate."

Nineteen-year-old Kyra Kennedy, daughter of RFK, Jr., was somehow not let into a 21+ club this weekend. I mean, can you literally even...no! This is crazy. Page Six reports that Lava at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York—described on its website as a "pulsating danceclub"—wouldn't admit Kyra even though she had her sister's passport.
Seriously rude. Apparently, one security guard even asked her to recite the birthday on the passport. Who knows their sister's birthday? Per Page Six:
Witnesses said Kyra appeared inebriated when she arrived at the club and was trying to enter an over-21 area using a passport belonging to her 26-year-old half-sister Kick Kennedy.
One witness said, "A security guard took Kick's passport from Kyra and asked her to recite her birth date, and she didn't know it. He then caught her trying to look up Kick's birthday on Wikipedia on her phone. The security guard then refused to return the passport, and Kyra started shouting all this stuff, including, 'I am a Kennedy, Google me. If you don't let me in, the governor will be calling.'"
I am a Kennedy, Google me. If you don't let me in, the governor will be calling.
Amazingly, they didn't even let her in after that. And she had to wait until the next morning to get Kick's passport back, which was probably really stressful.
Page Six reports that Kyra and her friends made the most of the weekend by visiting the nearby Syracuse University, where teens are welcome to drink anytime. Looks like they had fun

Were they as reliable as their reputation made them out to be?
If this was 1971-ish, would you be tempted to buy one?
I hardly ever even went in one but they sort of appealed to me and I thought they looked good in California, where they were especially popular...but they did seem to make a hell of a noise, as they went along.
Could you pick up a cheap old one in good condition and expect it to run & run?
I grew up in England where the original Mini was much more popular and there weren't many VW Bugs...also, of course the Hitler association put people off, but didn't seem to in America.

House Speaker John Boehner's invitation of Israe1i Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress on Iran is an unprecedented rebuke of President Barack Obama as he and Congress are preparing for a battle over Iran sanctions, experts told TPM.
The move came the day after Obama threatened in his State of the Union address to veto legislation putting new sanctions on Iran. He warned that new sanctions by Congress would disrupt the negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) acknowledged the week before that ending negotiations "is very much an intended consequence" of a new sanctions bill that has been put forward with some Democratic support.
Although the US and Israe1 maintain a "special relationship," the discord between the Obama administration and Netanyahu's government has been well documented. Netanyahu welcomed 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in a visit Israe1 in the midst of the campaign. And anonymous Obama administration officials have been quoted calling the Israe1i prime minster "a chickenshit."
But even with that context, experts on American-Israe1i relations expressed shock that Boehner had invited Netanyahu to address Congress on Iran next month. One described it as an effort to "humiliate" and "embarrass" Obama as the two sides dig in over Iran. The invitation from the Ohio Republican positions Congress, rather than the White House, as Israe1's ally.
"It's unprecedented. It's hitting below the belt. It's taking partisanship to a whole new level," Guy Ziv, a professor at American University who has studied U.S.-Israeli relations, told TPM. "It is a way for them to embarrass and humiliate the Obama administration."
It does track, though, with a broader trend of Israe1 becoming an area of partisan divide in a way that it hasn't always been.
"My reaction was that 'Wow, Boehner really wanted to bigfoot President Obama's State of the Union address," Matt Duss, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, which advocates for a two-state solution, told TPM. "It's part of a pattern we've seen, taking the Israe1 issue and using it as a partisan wedge."
Foreign leaders, including Netanyahu, have addressed joint sessions of Congress before. But the transparently political element of having Netanyahu, who has been a forceful critic at times of the international negotiations with Iran, speak on this specific topic and at this particular time makes the invitation from Boehner distinct from those past examples.
"It has a symbolic meaning that is not very positive in the long run," Yoram Peri, who served as senior adviser to former Israe1i Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and is now a professor at the University of Maryland, told TPM, "because we know there is a major difference of opinion between the House and the president."
Netanyahu's forays into American politics have a long history; he would sometimes align himself with the Newt Gingrich-led Republican Congress in the 1990s. But the Boehner invite still struck those familiar with the issue as wholly different given its political symbolism. The White House even called it a breach of protocol, according to the Associated Press.
"It's moving behind-closed-doors politics into the public arena," Peri said.
Or as Ziv put it: "They've taken it to a whole different level."
Others, however, argued that while there was certainly a political element to Wednesday's theatrics, it is important to remember that Republicans and the Israe1i government do have substantive policy differences with Obama on the Iranian question -- even if personal acrimony might be adding to these public disputes.
"This seems to have become very public and very personal. That kind of nastiness adds an edge to it," Jonathan Rynhold, a politics professor at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, told TPM. "But it also shouldn't be dismissed as politically maneuvering. There's a very, very serious foreign policy issue at stake. There's a really genuine disagreement."
Netanyahu's visit would also come about a month before Israe1i's March 17 elections, and he has received substantial contributions from Americans, as BuzzFeed reported earlier this month. But as TPM's Josh Marshall noted, there is some evidence that his perch as prime minster might be precarious as voters head to the polls.
Congress' embrace of Netanyahu therefore allows him to assume the role of international statesman and play to some internal Israe1i skepticism about the Obama administration's stance toward Iran, the Palestinian peace process and other Middle East issues.
"The one thing that the opposition can play is, 'Look, you're screwing up relations with the United States.' But if Netanyahu's invited, then that's moot," Rynhold said. "It's a good time, it's a good issue. It works politically because it's founded on what these people actually think."
Ziv even suggested that Republicans were rewarding Netanyahu for his tacit support of Romney in 2012. It will undoubtedly play well with a substantial part of the Israe1i electorate.
"This will really demonstrate that the other candidates are not as his level," Ziv said. "Who else has close friends in Congress? This shows gravitas."

I'm in the middle of a roommate nightmare situation and thought who better to turn to than DL. I should start by saying that I made mistakes that I take full responsibility for, but feel free to point them out any.
I've been living in this apartment in Midtown for almost five years now and had three different roommates prior to this one. The first roommate and I were both on the lease (2 bedroom), and when he left the landlord decided it was better to just have my name alone on the lease and I could have whomever I saw fit in the other room; as long as the rent got paid he didn't care.
My third roommate told me in December he found an opportunity and needed to move out, by jan 1 if possible, even though the rent is due on the 15th of the month. His rent is $1200/month plus there was a $1000 security deposit. He paid the rent on dec 15, but said if we found someone on jan 1 he could get $600 back for half the month and be even.
I did find someone on dec 25 from craigslist. He had to move suddenly from his apartment and seemed like a good guy. We met and talked and got along well. He was up front that he didn't have the full $1600 he would need to move in, but he would have the $1000 deposit on the first and then agreed to pay back the $600 half month to my old roommate over time. He would then pay the first full $1200 on jan 15.
Well jan 1 comes and instead of $1000 he only has $500. This was cause for concern, and yes I should have slammed the door in his face at that point, but he said he would have the other $500 when a check cleared by the 5th. The 5th came and no $500.
The 15th came and he didn't have the $1200 first month rent. I was nervous, but he said he was waiting on a check. On the 20th he did give me $1000. He said he would make up the other $200 on February's rent. Meanwhile he hadn't worked off any of the $1100 he still owed my old roommate.
By February 1 my old roommate was tired of waiting and I paid him the $1100 out of my pocket just to remove him from the situation.
The new roommate told him he would be late with the February rent, but on the 19th he would give me $1400 (rent plus the $200 from jan) and on march 15 he would pay both halves of the rent to make up for the $1100 I covered earlier.
Well surprise surprise the 19th came and he gave me $300 instead of $1400!! There were more excuses about checks not clearing and whatnot, but who cares? You can either pay the rent or you can't. After waiting 8 days for the check to clear I turned in the rent late and paid the whole thing myself.
I could go through this again on March 15 so I could him on 2/23 I would be looking for a new roommate and he needed to start looking to move out. I ended up finding a new roommate that could move in on 3/6. The current roommate and I have had several heated discussions and he claims he's going to move out this weekend, but that I was also being extremely unreasonable in kicking him out. What if he tries to not leave this weekend as he has promised? What are my options? I don't want him to jeopardize the good new roommate I found.

He's slowly getting there in America. The media loves him, and women and gay men drool over him. He has a great body - now. His ass in "Looking" keeps getting written up. How far can he go with this? What will it mean for his future career? Does he have a career in the US past "Looking"?

I have had this problem for many years now and have actually seen a couple of doctors about it with no results. Now, I am thinking I need to try another doctor again but, not sure if I should just to see a dermatologist, proctologist or what? I don't want to waste my time plus embarrassment seeing the wrong doctor.

The Associated Press, March 3, 2015 2:25 PM EST
--
Oprah Winfrey will close Harpo Studios in Chicago, where she taped "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for more than 20 years, this December, and will transition production for her cable network to a studio in California.
Harpo Studios and the Oprah Winfrey Network made the announcement Tuesday. OWN recently moved into a new studio in West Hollywood, California, and work currently done at Harpo Studios in Chicago will now be done there.
Winfrey sold the Harpo Studios property in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood to a developer last year for about $32 million. She said in a statement Tuesday that Harpo Studios has been a "blessing" in her life and she's now "looking ahead" to inhabiting her California studio.
The city named the street outside Harpo Studios "Oprah Winfrey Way" in 2011.

There is growing body of evidence that gender identity is hard wired into the brain and not simply a matter of psychology, according to a new Boston University School of Medicine study.
Writing in the journal Endocrine Practice, the researchers said that as many as one in 100 people could be living with some form of gender identity disorder -- meaning they may identify their gender differently than the one they were born with.
For example, actress Laverne Cox was born a man but identifies as a woman.
This makes the case for doctors to use surgery and hormone treatment rather than psychotherapy alone to help their patients come to terms with their gender identity, Dr. Joshua Safer, the lead researcher and a professor at BUSM, said.
“The paper was a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence that gender identity is a biological phenomenon," Safer explained. "As such it provides one of the most convincing arguments to date for all medical providers to gain the transgender medicine skills necessary to provide good care for these individuals," he added.
Nearly 40 percent of medical students they surveyed said they were uncomfortable caring for transgendered patients, and 5 percent of medical students said that the treatment was not part of conventional medicine. After teaching a course that raised the medical student’s awareness about transgender medical need, the students discomfort dropped by 67 percent.
Safer and the other authors of the study said they hope to change the perception of transgendered people within the healthcare system so that they get better treatment. But because the study was small, it does have limitations, the researchers said, and there should be additional investigation to focus on the specific biologic mechanisms for gender identity.
The ABC News National health team would also like to raise awareness about gender identity and what it means to be transgendered. We’re holding a tweet chat on the topic March 10 at 1 p.m., ET. Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News chief health and medical correspondent will moderate. We’ll be joined by experts, patients and loved ones to talk about the challenges of being transgendered and what that means for overall health and wellbeing.

With...
Kim Richards (storyline to date: Using ̶̶V̶o̶d̶k̶a Brandi to gaslight Kyle into believing that it's her fault that Kim is a mentally-disturbed pill-popping loon.)
Kyle Richards (storyline to date: Will fall for anyone's drama and bullshit--Kim's, Brandi's, or Lisa's. Dumb as a box of retarded rocks.)
Brandi Glanville (storyline to date: countdown to self-destruction has begun. 10-9-8-7-... Don't let the door hit you on that bony ass of your, bitch!)
Yolanda Foster (storyline to date: Count down to self-destruction has begun. TICK-tock, TICK-tock, TICK-tock..... May I get you another lemon purge, sweetie?)
Eileen Davidson (storyline to date: The most popular and renowned Daytime Queen continues to mesmerize her ever-loving fans! Long live the Queen! Suck it, haters!)
Lisa Rinna (storyline to date: the Greek chorus has absolutely NOTHING on this bitch. Guaranteed gold for a good wisecrack. Those are some multi-talented lips! Lucky Harry...)
Lisa Vanderpump (storyline to date: Still loves money. Still loves pink. Still loves rosé. Still loves Pandy. Still tolerates Ken. On the fence about the adopted one.)
with...
the staff of Passages Malibu rearranging the furniture to make room for the RHOBH crew while they film Kim's and Brandi's rehab stint, which will no doubt be cut short and end in a binge of vodka slammers, Vicodin, and regret.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ...
By CORINNE RAMEY ...
March 2, 2015 8:18 p.m. ET
Frank Music Company has supplied classical sheet music to generations of instrumentalists, singers and composers.
On Friday, the retail store will close its doors for good, succumbing to dwindling sales.
Frank Music has been struggling for years, as music became readily available online, said Heidi Rogers, the shop’s owner.
“We went from seeing 15 to 20 people per day to seeing two or three,” Ms. Rogers said on Monday. “I went from feeling like I was at the center of the world to feeling invisible.”
The store, on West 54th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, opened in 1937 and provided the city’s musicians scores from the standard— Bach, Beethoven —to the arcane. Ms. Rogers bought it in 1978.
Frank Music is the last store in the city dedicated to selling classical sheet music, Ms. Rogers said, although other places such as the Jiulliard School’s bookstore at Lincoln Center have it on their shelves.
Frank Music’s stock, which Ms. Rogers counts as hundreds of thousands of scores, was purchased by an anonymous donor as a gift for the Colburn School, a music conservatory in Los Angeles.
The school and Ms. Rogers declined to comment on financial details.
Colburn School’s president and chief executive, Sel Kardan, called Frank Music’s scores “an invaluable resource for our students and faculty for years to come.”
‘Everyone says, Aren’t you going to have a party? I feel like having a funeral.’
To the 63-year-old Ms. Rogers, nothing is more important than the arts.
“The idea that classical music is irrelevant is ridiculous,” she said, bemoaning the comparative salaries of tubists and stockbrokers. “People should be paid in terms of what they contribute to people’s well being.”
The store’s celebrity clients over the years have included pianists Emanuel Ax and Jeremy Denk, violinist Pamela Frank and cellist David Finckel.
One of Ms. Rogers’s favorite memories is a telephone call from the violinist Itzhak Perlman , asking for Kreisler scores.
The composer Bruce Adolphe, who is resident lecturer at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, described the store as a musical meeting ground.
“Frank’s Music was not just a store but a crucible,” he said, “a nexus where musicians from Suzuki beginners and their parents, to Joshua Bell, or the Brentano’s Mark Steinberg, would meet by chance.
Its closing is perhaps the latest example of classical music’s changing brick-and-mortar businesses.
Joseph Patelson Music House, another longtime sheet-music establishment, closed in 2009, and Dowling Music shut its doors in 2013. Last year, J&R Music and Computer World, the last store in New York with a sizable classical CD section, stopped carrying classical albums.
Musicians have plenty of online opportunities to buy sheet music, whether from Amazon.com , publishers or specialty websites such as Sheet Music Plus.
The website IMSLP, a digital library of public-domain music, allows users to download scores for free. Some musicians with iPads have dispensed with pesky paper scores altogether.
For now, Ms. Rogers plans to pack up the rest of the store’s contents and then spend some time on her farm in the Catskills, where she has tenant farmers and 50 chickens.

[quote]A teacher was found hanging from the ceiling inside an Orange County high school classroom. The woman was found by students at El Dorado High School in Placentia today. Officials told the L.A. Times that when firefighters arrived at the school, they found the female teacher on the ground. Students and other teachers had placed her on the floor inside a classroom, said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority. Paramedics were unable to revive her, he said.

I cry everytime I see this episode. I think it''s the best GG episode, and one of the best sitcom episodes ever done. It balances hysterical humor with drama perfectly. The Bea-Estelle bedroom scene towards the end gets me everytime. %0D\
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The only one that comes close to this is the Roseanne "Auntie Barbara" episode.%0D\
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A California man has paid $200 to file a ballot initiative that, if passed, would mandate for all gay people to die by firing squad, rather than risk god's wrath.
A Christian activist would like to see all gay people in California executed by firing squad, just so the rest of the citizenry can avoid having to endure God's "wrath." Matthew McLaughlin last week paid $200 to file a ballot initiative with the Attorney General in Sacramento that proposes his Sodomite Suppression Act become law.
McLaughlin calls homosexual sex "buggery," and "sodomy," and labels it "a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha [sic]."
He says that it's "better" that non-gay Californians kill the gays rather than have to suffer God's punishment.
"Seeing that it is better that offenders should die rather than that all of us should be killed by God's just wrath against us for the folly of tolerating-wickedness in our midst, the People of California wisely command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method."
McLaughlin does not state if minors – say, high school students – would be treated as adults and included in the execution mandate.
The Sodomite Suppression Act (note it's not the "Sodomy" Suppression Act, a clear indication that it's LGBT people, not just homosexual sex that McLaughlin takes issue with) also calls for a one million dollar fine for each act of transmitting, distributing, or performing "sodomistic propaganda" to minors.
And McLaughlin's bill would make it illegal for any gay person to hold public office, be employed by the state, or be granted any benefits, such as welfare, social security, or use any public assets, such as roads.
McLaughlin will have to get 365,000 legitimate California residents to sign up to support the Sodomite Suppression Act in order for it to move forward.
Wonkette has done its research and says that McLaughlin is likely the same person who in 2004 attempted to get the Bible in curriculum studies in public schools, an effort that would probably have been unconstitutional and cost the state about $200 million.
See document...

I know I''m probably late with this, but I just discovered him today. Canadian model and occasional actor Thierry Pepin. Made a gay porn film in 1999, which was subsequently re-released with his scenes cut out. Owns a Quebec-themed restaurant in NYC. Currently the body of Greg Homme.%0D\
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Gay, right? Not just gay-for-pay.

After all wouldn't it make more sense to have the blond in the middle, between the two brunettes?
Or how about having the Asian guy in between the two Caucasian men.
But it is Freddie Smith smack dab in the middle, while the other two are on either side like an after thought,
Why?

Fashion Police co-host Giuliana Rancic has had one of the most difficult weeks of her career thanks to comments she made about Zendaya Coleman‘s hair. Rancic apologized, and Coleman accepted, but RadarOnline.com has learned that the after-effects seem to be lingering for Rancic. Says a source close to the situation, “Everyone is really worried for Giuliana.”
“It is a very awkward time because E! knows that Giuliana has damaged her reputation,” the source tells Radar exclusively.
As Radar reported, Rancic, 40, got a full serving of backlash early this week after the Fashion Police co-host said “I feel that she smells like patchouli oil… or weed” when describing the 18-year-old’s Oscar night dreadlocks.
PHOTOS: Insincere Apology? Giuliana Rancic Has ‘Underlying Anger’ Over Zendaya Drama, Says Body Language Expert
Not only did the comment offend Coleman, and Rancic’s co-host Kelly Osbourne, who both tweeted a series of messages directed at Rancic, but it also offended fans of the young singer and of the show, who saw the comments as being racist.
Even though Rancic was quick to offer two apologies – the first on her Twitter and the second on-air during the E! News telecast – the insider tells Radar, “It is going to be hard to keep Giuliana’s fan base alive … countless people were offended by her remarks.”
Adding to the pressure, Rancic’s apparent weight loss has been drawing criticism for months, as fans and viewers have expressed their fears for the fragile-framed host on social media.
PHOTOS: Celebrity Racist Rants
According to the source, “If there was ever a time that she would go and get help for whatever is going on with her health — if there is something — the time would be now. But people don’t say anything to her and only say it behind her back. It is the pink elephant in every room she walks in.”
“E! has gotten a ton of emails and calls asking them to pull her off the air, at least for the time being,” the insider adds. “No one knows what is going to happen next, but something’s got to give.”

The argument:\
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She''s successfully played Elizabeth I, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Dylan and Veronica Guerin.\
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The New York Times said her performance as Blanche DuBois in Streetcar should now be considered the definitive version. Or at least the high bar.\
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Easily fits into Hollywood fluff like The Gift, The Missing, Bandits, etc, and is usually the best thing in those movies. Also steals the show in Talented Mr Ripely and Paradise Road where she is a minor character.\
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And she is still in her leading lady phase. We love her.

How do you deal with it? And why do you dread going to work?
I'm new to this feeling, I've had boring jobs I didn't like (but needed the money) but now I am dreading going to work in a job that should be one I really like. Maybe I'm just scared of failing.

by Gary Legum
March 3, 2015
Bibi Netanyahu came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver his much-anticipated speech to Congress. (No we will not embed it here because we love you.) Wonkette’s Los Angeles bureau rolled out of bed early to watch it, because there is nothing we like more than starting our day with a little bloodthirsty warmongering. It pairs so well with coffee and rage. Here for your pleasure is our retroactive liveblog of the speech.
8:00 A.M. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
[italics]*Continues for 30 minutes*[/italics]
If you watched the speech and had flashbacks to George W. Bush circa 2002-03, you were not alone. For all the cheers, one might have thought the Sixth Fleet was already turning Tehran into a pile of rubble. We’re actually a little surprised House Speaker John Boehner didn’t immediately hold a vote calling on the president to fly to Iran and personally pull Ayatollah Khamenei’s still-beating heart from his chest and then fly back to the U.S. with Khamenei’s body strapped to the nose cone of Air Force One like an unlucky Reaver victim on Firefly.
[quote]Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred, the oldest hatred of anti-Semitism with the newest technology. He tweets that Israel must be annihilated — he tweets. You know, in Iran, there isn’t exactly free Internet. But he tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed.
No! Surely the mad Islamist has not discovered the awesome power of Twitter! God help us if he discovers #catsofinstagram, the world will be chaos.
[quote]Iran took dozens of Americans hostage in Tehran, murdered hundreds of American soldiers, Marines, in Beirut, and was responsible for killing and maiming thousands of American service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yeah, and if Iraq had invaded and conquered Canada, we’d have been arming any insurgency up there. By all means bring up the biggest foreign policy mistake America has made in forty years, that’ll get us on your side.
[quote]In the Middle East, Iran now dominates four Arab capitals, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sanaa. And if Iran’s aggression is left unchecked, more will surely follow.
[quote]So, at a time when many hope that Iran will join the community of nations, Iran is busy gobbling up the nations.
Buy war bonds! Hang up your blackout curtains! The Huns are on the march!
Listening to this shanda fur de goyim , you’d have thought the barbarians were already at Jerusalem’s gates, but he completely ignores a couple of facts. One, if Iran nuked Israel, the United States would turn it into glass about five minutes before last Tuesday. And two, if Iran nuked Israel, every Arab nation in the area would be furious because the fallout would poison them as well, not to mention leaving that tiny little area an uninhabitable wasteland for the next thousand years. That’s not exactly the end goal for anyone from any of the three Abrahamic religions.
There was more about the threat from Iran and the deal the world is about to sign to get Iran to stop trying to enrich uranium and build nukes and missiles that can “deliver that nuclear arsenal to the far-reach corners of the earth, including to every part of the United States.” What exactly is in that deal? Well, we don’t really know yet. Netanyahu just knows it’s bad, probably because it will allow Iran to continue to exist.

I am furious with my partner.
I am going to confront him tonight and I don't want to become a raving nut about this situation. How should I keep my cool?
Dinner with someone from work should not last until 1am in my opinion, which is what happened so he said, last night.
I think I am being played.

The mean length of a flaccid penis is 3.6 inches, and the mean length of an erection is 5.16 inches...
...according to a paper titled "Am I Normal?" published Tuesday in the British Journal of Urology.

my partner and I are gay , it was very obvious a large bank has discrimnated against us with the home loan. Whats worse is the attorny we were work ing with surprise, did not know we were gay, we were working to get loan mod, then when he found out , at one point in front of 4 people screamed at us we were sick sick sick.
advice please

What says you? I think she should die because you know that bitch will never be able to be reformed. She'll go to her grave claiming that Travis was a child molester and that she did the world a favor. It would be best to just kill her and let her sort it out in her next life. However, I think she will probably get life w/out parole as too many cowardly sapsuckers are opposed to the death penalty, or should I say opposed to the death penalty when it comes to women.

A Quebec judge told a woman appearing in her Montreal courtroom she would not hear her case until she removed her hijab.
"Hats and sunglasses for example, are not allowed. And I don't see why scarves on the head would be either," the female judge says in the recording.
"The same rules need to be applied to everyone. I will therefore not hear you if you are wearing a scarf on your head, just as I would not allow a person to appear before me wearing a hat or sunglasses on his or her head, or any other garment not suitable for a court proceeding."
Do you agree?
Link below for the audio recording of the Judge

The Associated Press, March 2, 2015 2:17 PM EST ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Daytime Emmys ceremony is returning to television with a new home on the Pop channel.
The National TV academy and Pop, formerly the TV Guide Network, made the announcement Monday. The ceremony will air live from a Warner Bros. studio soundstage.
After losing its longtime spot on the broadcast networks in 2012, the Daytime Emmys aired on cable news channel HLN for two years.
Last year, it settled for streaming the proceedings online -- a change in fortune that reflected the dwindling daytime audience.
In a statement, Pop channel President Brad Schwartz said adding such live events is among the ways the rebranded channel will grow.
The 42nd annual Daytime Emmys, produced by Michael Levitt, will air live on Sunday, April 26. A host was not announced.

KALEY: Well, I dated [co-star Johnny] Galecki, so %E2%80%A6 yeah. We dated for almost two years. It was such a huge part of my life and no one knew about it.
WATCH!: How did you keep it under wraps?
KALEY: This is the first time I've ever talked about it, ever. It was a wonderful relationship but we never spoke a word about it and never went anywhere together. We were so protective of ourselves and the show and didn%E2%80%99t want anything to ruin that. But that also made it sad, too. That's not the kind of relationship I want-I don%E2%80%99t want to be hiding. We couldn't do anything. It wasn't as fun as we wanted it to be. Everyone was always asking, and we deny-deny-denied. And I'm like, "Why am I denying this person that I love?" It took a little bit of a toll on me and I think it did for him, too. Not that I want to go traipsing down a red carpet with anyone, but there%E2%80%99s got to be a happy medium.
WATCH!: Why not just admit it, get it out there?
KALEY: That's the way I would have done it. But certain people didn%E2%80%99t want to do it that way, which I understand. We knew how to keep it deep inside and never bring it on that set, ever.
WATCH!: When did you two split up?
KALEY: We broke up before the holidays and worked that whole time. We dodged a huge bullet. Dodged a war. But when you're dealing with two professionals who have been working since they were both 4-and who kept their lives extremely private- we didn't want anything other than that. So we're not going to screw it up, and were not going to screw it up for everyone else and make things weird. There was so much at stake, and we both knew that. It was really intense.
WATCH!: Sounds like it. Have things been awkward on set?
KALEY: Moments were really hard, but we have such a love for each other-and we knew we weren%E2%80%99t destined to be together-that we accepted it and said, "Look, if we ever break up, we will be professional." I'm so lucky it was a mutual ending and that we don't hate each other. We've seen that happen on other shows.
WATCH!: Do you still talk?
KALEY: At the wrap party he gave me a huge hug and I was like, "I'm really proud of us." And he was like, "I know, me too. We didn't kill each other, or kill other people. We made it."

The "Alan Dershowitz tried to discredit girl who accused Jeffrey Epstein" thread was quite active yesterday, and now "doesn't exist" in a search. Is this another 3:00 software glich?
Anyway, right now USA is airing an episode of Law & Order SVU from 2011 based on Epstein. Billionaire receives massage from 12 y.o. French girl and others trafficked by an ex-girlfriend. Benson and Stabler just toured the massage room that, surprise, surprise, has a hidden camera.

I only have $5,000 to spend and I'm considering purchasing a used Honda. I've been looking for Hondas on craigslist and also on websites of local dealerships. Do you have any suggestions? One thing I'm wondering about is if I purchase a used car at a dealership if I can try to get the price down a bit, since I'll be paying cash.

After a week of scandal, E! has announced that Kelly Osbourne is walking away from Fashion Police. But multiple insiders exclusively tell RadarOnline.com the outspoken star was actually forced to leave the show — or she would have been given the pink slip!
“We are told she was given the option to quit or be fired,” a network insider reveals.
“In reality, she was let go,” another source echoes. “Producers had had enough.”
The 30-year-old’s drama on and off set didn’t start this week, the first insider points out. Osbourne has been a nightmare to handle since the September death of her beloved co-panelist and friend, Joan Rivers.
PHOTOS: Devastated Giuliana And Bill Rancic Visit Joan Rivers’ NYC Apartment To Check In On Melissa Rivers
“Kelly had beef when Kathy [Griffin] replaced Joan because she thought she was going to be the star of the show,” the insider explains. “She hasn’t been easy to handle.”
For producers, who were already unhappy with Osbourne, Osbourne’s venom toward Giuliana Rancic this week was the last straw.
“The network stands behind Giuliana and are furious that Kelly bashed her and the show,” the source says. “They feel she threw Giuliana under the bus when she really needed her support.”
PHOTOS: Their Final Farewell: Melissa Rivers & Son Cooper Cry, Hold Hands After Joan Rivers’ New York Funeral SEE The Heartbreaking Pics
As Radar reported, Osbourne publicly threatened to quit the show if Rancic, 40, didn’t apologize to Zendaya Coleman, 18, for saying her dreadlocks smelled like “patchouli or weed” during a post-Academy Awards episode.
“I’m giving everyone involved 24 hours to make it right or the world will hear how I really feel,” Osbourne fumed on February 24.
Though there have been no announcements about Osbourne’s replacement, Radar exclusively revealed this morning that funny gal Khloe Kardashian, 30, is in talks to join the show.

I've had a flu for a few weeks and life's been a bitch in other ways as well so I'm pretty low in the spirits. I'm lying in front of my tv and was wondering what are the feel good tv shows or films you like to watch when feeling down?
I rarely watch them anymore but when I just think of Golden Girls I feel safe. When I was a kid Golden Girls aired on late Sunday nights where I lived and it was always sort of a happy ending to the weekend before going back to school. TBH I feel sad knowing that almost all the girls are gone now so it's a bittersweet feeling thinking about them. I sometimes do still watch GG episodes when I'm feeling down.

I have to say... the premiere was a bit underwhelming. It seemed awfully "forced" and "contrived".
I hope it's just the nature of being a pilot that has to set up so much, and that future episodes are better.
I'm still in.

What foreign born B/C-list actor currently on a historically based cable series, has been posting pics on social media of him and his boyfriend? His PR people are obviously encouraging it, because he’s still at the beginning of his career and not at a point where it would be a setback

I would, based only upon Day 1, rate it a resounding success. I think he is actually a first-rate newscaster, knows his stuff, personable and friendly with guests, asks pertinent questions-- and gorgeous to look at, to boot.
OK, homo-haters, the floor is all your's. Have at it.

Oh well, at least no innocent people were killed this time.
A sport utility vehicle was hit by an oncoming train Monday in East Rockaway when its driver ignored warning lights and bells at a railroad crossing and drove onto the tracks, authorities said.
The driver, described as an elderly woman, survived the 12:25 p.m. collision with a westbound Long Beach train at the Rocklyn Avenue crossing, just west of the Long Island Rail Road's Centre Avenue station, said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority police.
Police said a witness reported that the driver of a Toyota Highlander was going south on Rocklyn Avenue when she drove her car onto the grade crossing despite red, flashing lights and the crossing gate bells sounding.
As the SUV entered the crossing, the gates came down, police said, and when the vehicle stopped, the rear of the SUV remained on the tracks.
The train, which had just left the Centre Avenue station, struck the rear of the SUV, shoving it off the tracks.
The driver complained of neck and back injuries and was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, MTA police said.

One of these guys should write a book one day....it would be a fascinating "inside" perspective. Can't imagine what it would be like to be in love with such a famous guy and have to hide it from the world.

1. I'm "big-boned".
2. I have a slow metabolism. (This claim has been tested time and again and there's no such thing as a slow metabolism. When obese patients are monitored and compared with skinny people their metabolism are burning calories exactly the same. The difference is that the morbidly obese individual consumes drastically more calories than a skinny person.)
3. I have an (unspecified) medical condition (very few medical conditions cause one to be fat. There are diseases that can cause fluid retention and such, but few cause one to get fat.)
4. I was molested.
5. It's genetics.
6. I don't make enough money to eat healthy.
7. My medication makes me fat. (There are some medication that can cause weight gain. However, doctors are quick to switch patients to other drugs if they notice this problem developing.)
8. I had an injury which limits my activity.
9. I'm diabetic. (Yes, certain people would have us believe that it was their diabetes that caused them to become morbidly obese and not the other way around.)
10. I have a thyroid condition. (Very rare. The majority of thyroid conditions cause a hyperactive metabolism, keeping someone super skinny. However, even if a person does have a genuine thyroid issue, treatment is effective which will end weight gain.)
11. Fatorexia, the tendency for fat people to perceive themselves as not being fat. Women who believe they are merely "curvy" or "big and beautiful" fall into this category as well. The fatty from "My Big Fat Fabulous Life" falls into this category as well as number 3 as she blames her weight gain on a medical condition and not the fact that she likely consumes 10,000 calories or more a day.
12. I was teased or bullied as a kid.
13. It's society's fault or society should accept me for how I am.
14. I had a kid, or multiple kids. (As if this is a free pass to be a blob for the rest of your life.)

To achieve the double eyelid look that white people have. I was always self-conscious of my eyes not being the same as white people, so now, I'm going to get them operated on. It will raise my looks up by a whole 2.5 points on a scale of 0 to 10 to a 9.

I love Charles Busch, because he is so funny as a drag artist yet he usually pretty charming and gracious. He also always looks nice.
But most drag queens always look so cheap, and are so rude and vulgar. Why is that?

It seems like it's fizzled but it just got an early renewal for a 7th season, even before the 6th season premiers.
Jackie will apparently go back to drugs (which she kinda already dead in the close of last season.).
No more Dr. O'Hara and 'Dr. Coop' is leaving as a cast regular. I'm sure we'll be smothered with more smearing on of the "precocious and precious" Zoe.
I want to see late in life nurses hook up with hot, younger boyfriends! I wanna see more cliche E.R. scenes!

I've tried it on three different devices and it takes forever to load a new thread. Once you've clicked a thread to read a new response it's fine.
Maybe it is just me, but I thought that I would put it out there in case I wasn't alone.

20th Century Fox has closed a deal with director Neill Blomkamp to develop a new “Alien” movie, sources confirm.
The untitled sci-fi project is separate from “Prometheus 2,” which Fox is still making with Ridley Scott.

If you’re wondering if people are still giving handjobs, get ready for some peace of mind. Andrew Rannells stopped by Late Night With Seth Meyers Thursday to chat about his role as Hannah’s ex boyfriend/current gay bestie Elijah on HBO’s Girls.
The actor who headlined the Broadway revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch last summer shared the challenges he faced when asked to perform his very first onscreen handjob. When he read the script, naturally his first thought was, “Who gives a handjob?” But being a professional actor, Rannells manned up and performed the task. He even learned that his scene partner actor hailed from his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. “He was like, ‘Do you think that the Omaha paper would write about this?'” Rannells said. “Local boys share hand job! I was like, ‘I guess we could try.'”
Watch Rannells discuss his hard work below.

The new scripted drama premieres tonight.
From the creator of "The Tudors" and starring former CK underwear model Travis Fimmel and Gabriel Byrne.
I'm going to give it a shot...early reviews are encouraging, and I'm guessing many of the male characters will be hot, in an uncivilized, possibly murderous yet emotionally conflicted way. Kind of like some of the guys I've known from real life.
I want to see wanton pillaging and bedroom intrigue.

On Starz, and in the great tradition of the groundbreaking show, Spartacus, once again we get another hyper-masculine gay character. This time, he's one of the main protagonists: a gay pirate!
There are some hot men on the show who are not afraid to show some peen, the cinematography is stunning, the story is rich and engrossing, and the character development puts Game of Thrones to shame.
Love this show! Anyone else watching?

I don't care about some porn star (and let's call her what she is) and her basketball husband.
And people are so gullible thinking this was real. A female co-worker of mine went home from work early the other day because she was so stressed out by the news. And another one is going around swearing that he thinks the whole thing was fake. OF COURSE IT WAS FAKE!
This whole reality TV shit is getting really disturbing. So transparent and fake in front of our own eyes, and we love to think that it's real. It's sick.

Senator Rand Paul, of Kentucky, seems to have no problem contradicting himself. The self-proclaimed "constitutional conservative" is typically lost in libertarian thought leading him to make inflammatory sexist, racist and overbearingly hypocritical comments on nearly every issue he faces. Whether he's attempting to police women's bodies, ignoring police brutality for stingy tobacco taxes, or speaking out against vaccines and posting himself receiving booster shots only days later, Ron Paul's son is one politician you can unabashedly hate or enjoy laughing at.
(see link)

As predicted, the fans are leaving in droves. But what of the faithful staples, Prue, Fern et. al.? They can't leave because the voices won't let them!
But we will remember the lost: The Reverend; Mimi "fake husband" Collens; Lisa "the photo is old" Homes ...
The list goes on and on - who will remain? Oh, the suspense!!!
Let the mocking begin in 3, 2, 1 ...

Homosexual pardon delayed as officials say it could benefit paedophiles
Liberal Democrats pledge to pardon 49,000 men convicted before 1967 in any future coalition, while campaigners say warning about paedophiles is an excuse
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent; Friday 27 February 2015 17.38 GMT
A campaign to pardon nearly 50,000 men convicted under a 19th-century law for homosexual activity is being delayed amid concerns in Whitehall that a small number of paedophiles could be included.
Campaigners who had hoped that the royal pardon for the Enigma codebreaker Alan Turing would be extended across the nation have been dismayed by a warning from Whitehall officials that a blanket pardon could benefit gay men who had sex with a minor.
“There is huge frustration that the deal breaker now appears to be a fear that a general pardon might see what are being described as some paedophiles pardoned,” one source familiar with the Whitehall negotiations told the Guardian. “This sounds like an excuse and is driving people to despair.”
Simon Hughes, the justice minister, will on Saturday pledge that the Liberal Democrats would demand in any future coalition negotiations that a pardon is offered to the estimated 49,000 men convicted of gross indecency before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1967. Hughes will say that the men, of whom 15,000 are believed to be alive, are “morally innocent” of any crime.
The former Lib Dem deputy leader, who will indicate that the Tories have yet to agree to the pardon, will speak up after concerns were raised in Whitehall that paedophiles could benefit from the proposed pardon. Officials have said that there may be no record of whether a minor was involved in a pre-1967 prosecution because homosexuality was illegal regardless of age. Homosexuality was initially decriminalised in 1967 for consenting adults aged 21 and over. The age of consent was eventually equalised in Great Britain in 2001.
Campaigners believe that the objections about benefiting paedophiles could be overcome by introducing two amendments to the relevant legislation to make clear that the men would have acted wholly lawfully under today’s law. The amendments would say that the sex took place between men aged over 16 and that they were both consenting adults.
Turing’s relatives have presented a petition to Downing Street, signed by more than half a million people, calling for a pardon for the estimated 49,000 men prosecuted for homosexual activity. Turing was prosecuted for gross indecency under section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which imposed a maximum prison sentence of two years, after he admitted to having sex with a man. The mathematician, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film the Imitation Game, was believed to have taken his own life two years later after avoiding a prison sentence by agreeing to the process known as chemical castration. He was granted a posthumous pardon in 2013 under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy by the Queen after a request from Chris Grayling, the justice secretary.
Hughes will say that the time has come for gay men who did nothing wrong under the law of today to be pardoned. Speaking at a Pride event at Westminster University in central London, the justice minister will say: “There are thousands of men, just like Alan Turing, who have convictions for consenting activity between adults which were only taken to the courts because of the laws of the time which criminalised homosexuality. They are morally innocent of crime and it is time we righted that wrong.”
The justice minister will indicate that the Tories have yet to agree to the pardon. He will say: “If we cannot reach agreement across government before the election, Liberal Democrats will make a commitment in our election manifesto to grant an official pardon to all those convicted in the past of sexual activity which today would be perfectly legal.”
Grayling has supported Hughes as he works with officials in the Ministry of Justice on drawing up plans for a change in the law. Hughes has praised the work of the officials although some campaigners believe that Downing Street is dragging its feet.
Downing Street has pointed out that the coalition changed the law – in the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 – to allow men convicted of homosexual activity to apply for a “disregard” to make their conviction “spent”. But campaigners say it is wrong that the onus should be on people who committed no offence under today’s law to make an application to the state.

Ronan Farrow included on OUT's list of the 100 Most Eligible Bachelors: 2015. (Link goes to slideshow; click through to see Ronan.)
Farrow had been previously inned by The New York Times and MSNBC's publicity team.

[bold]Don’t pretend Bibi didn’t mean to offend Obama. He is a bully and a liar. [/bold]
By William Saletan
Benjamin Netanyahu says his speech against President Obama’s Iran policy, delivered on the floor of Congress, shouldn’t be taken as an affront. “My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama,” Netanyahu told AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby group, on Monday. In his remarks to Congress on Tuesday morning, the prime minister brushed aside those who “perceive my being here as political.”
But back home, Netanyahu shows no such tolerance. He claims to represent not just all Israelis, but all Jews. When critics question his policies, he purges them from office, challenges their patriotism, and accuses them of serving foreign masters. If anyone were to do in Israel what Netanyahu has just done here—walk into the nation’s parliament at the unilateral invitation of an opposition party and deliver a speech against the government’s foreign policy—Netanyahu would have cried treason.
Let’s get a few excuses out of the way. First, the indisputable purpose of this speech was to enlist Congress as a weapon against Obama. Two weeks ago, according to Haaretz, Israel’s ambassador to the United States—the Netanyahu protégé who negotiated the speaking engagement—told officials in Jerusalem that Netanyahu was going to Congress because Israel “has almost no ability to influence the negotiations through other channels.” Last Friday, campaigning in Israel, Netanyahu said he was coming here to lobby “the only body that may prevent” the Iran deal. The gist of both statements is obvious: Netanyahu doesn’t like Obama’s policy, so he’s trying to use Congress to block it.
Netanyahu says he’s doing this only because Iranian nukes are an existential threat to Israel. But this isn’t the first time Netanyahu has publicly challenged Obama. The last time he did it—lecturing Obama in the Oval Office, in front of television cameras, for seven minutes in May 2011—the subject wasn’t Iran. It was peace talks with the Palestinians.
In Israel, Netanyahu is exploiting his fight with the administration. He accuses his rivals in the center and on the left of “groveling to the international community” while he stands up to foreign pressure. A Likud campaign ad casts Netanyahu in the tradition of past Israeli leaders who, according to the ad, defied “the American secretary of state” and “the American State Department.”
So let’s be clear: Netanyahu has come here to defy Obama. He has done so because confrontation is in his nature. And he’s politicizing it. You can dismiss all his protestations that the speech shouldn’t be taken as an assault on the authority of our head of state. Because that’s exactly how Netanyahu treats criticism of his own policies back home.

I''m curious what it was like in the early 80''s when people started dying but know one knew why. What did you do? Did you stop having sex? If you hadn''t come out yet did it keep you in? I was talking to one man recently who said he turned to religion. (but came out of it)\
\
I can''t imagine what the fear must have been like. It seems the whole period has been forgotten by people my age.

A new tell-all -- sounds dishy.
[quote]The fashion world worships McQueen, and may think it blasphemous to sensationalize his life and death in print. But nothing is too sacred for Thomas, who pores over his bad hygiene (the ladies of British Vogue were repulsed by his “Stonehenge” teeth) and reckless drug use (five different dealers; 600 pounds a night on cocaine in the early 2000s). We learn even more about his sexual proclivities. When a promising talent—Sarah Burton, who is now herself creative director of McQueen’s label—was vying to work for McQueen in the late ‘90s, McQueen’s longtime friend and fellow designer, Simon Ungless, warned her that the job might involve “washing up a shitty dildo.”

Lewis Pugh's Antarctic swim – in pictures
British endurance swimmer and United Nations Environment Programme patron of the oceans, completes most southerly swim in human history after swimming in the Bay of Whales, Ross Sea

Despite disapproval from the American people and his own country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still intends to speak before Congress on March 3rd in an effort to sabotage President Obama. But the White House isn’t going to let him get away with it and Israel stands to lose big time.
For years, Netanyahu has constantly whined that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, which is pretty ironic considering Israel has made an effort to exterminate Palestinians.
Rather than commit US blood and treasure to a catastrophic war against Iran, President Obama has slapped them with sanctions and has opened diplomatic relations in the hopes of maintaining peace by preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon while allowing the use of nuclear power to generate energy. Clearly, however, Netanyahu isn’t pleased by this. He would rather see American troops start World War III and risk their own lives while American taxpayers foot the bill for it instead of Israelis.
Republicans are also hawkish when it comes to Iran and they have pledged allegiance to a foreign leader instead of their own president. The GOP hates President Obama so much that House Speaker John Boehner blatantly broke US law to secretly invite Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress so they could embarrass the president together. In turn, the White House promised that there would be a price to pay for this total lack of respect.
“There are things you simply don’t do,” a White House official said in January. “He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave. Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency, and that there will be a price.”
And now, the White House is bringing the hammer down.
According to the AP, President Obama is considering multiple options to fire back against Netanyahu.
Among them: a presidential interview with a prominent journalist known for coverage of the rift between Obama and Netanyahu, multiple Sunday show television appearances by senior national security aides and a pointed snub of America’s leading pro-Israel lobby, which is holding its annual meeting while Netanyahu is in Washington, according to the officials.
…
But the White House is now doubling down on a cold-shoulder strategy, including dispatching Cabinet members out of the country and sending a lower-ranking official than normal to represent the administration at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the officials said.”
Among the high level executive officials giving Netanyahu the cold-shoulder includes Vice-President Joe Biden, who would usually attend such a speech as part of his Senate President duties. However, Biden basically told Netanyahu to go f*ck himself by announcing his intention to be out of the country on that particular day.
And that’s not all. The White House is also considering snubbing AIPAC, which would be huge since administrations usually send top foreign policy officials to represent the White House.
The White House isn’t just angry about Netanyahu’s speech and his effort to sabotage diplomatic talks, they are also furious about Israel leaking details of the talks in an effort to demonize and derail them, even though nothing has been finalized, and won’t be until at least the end of March when a framework is tentatively scheduled to be in place. That’s why Israel is now being left out of the loop on negotiations.
The White House and State Department have both publicly accused Israeli officials of leaking “cherry-picked” details of the negotiations to try to discredit the administration. And, in extraordinary admissions this week, the administration acknowledged that the U.S. is withholding sensitive details of the talks from Israel, its main Middle East ally, to prevent such leaks.
Netanyahu needs to cancel this speech or his country needs to intervene and cancel it for him before it is too late. This act of disrespect is an effort to undermine President Obama’s authority on US soil, even though voters elected Obama to be their leader, NOT Netanyahu. This violation of protocol is so bad that even Fox News expressed shock and outrage that Republicans would disrespect President Obama in this way. This is a deliberate attempt to wreck crucial diplomatic negotiations with Iran that could peacefully prevent them from getting a nuclear weapon. But Netanyahu and Republicans oppose peace because what they want is a bloody and costly war. Only Netanyahu would rather Israel not be the country to fight it or pay for it.
President Obama is done taking sh*t from the GOP and Netanyahu. After all, we are Israel’s greatest ally. They NEED us. We do NOT need them. Netanyahu is directly threatening our own national autonomy. Republicans seem to think Netanyahu is our real president, and frankly, it appears Netanyahu thinks he is as well. But he is overplaying his hand and crossing a line that should result in far steeper consequences for him and his tiny nation.
It’s time to re-evaluate the “friendship” between our nation and Israel. Israel receives $3 billion in defense spending every year from the pockets of American taxpayers. This should be terminated immediately. Furthermore, if Israel wants to act like a bully, we should treat them like one. We’re talking about a nation that deliberately killed innocent Palestinian children in multiple attacks that killed thousands of human beings while multiple Israeli officials called for committing actual genocide. You know, like Hitler did to Jews during World War II. Last time I checked, we went to war with Germany and prosecuted Nazi officials for committing these atrocities. We didn’t send them billions of dollars and call them our friends. The talks with Iran are crucial to keeping American troops from having to sacrifice their lives in yet another pointless war in the Middle East. A war, I might add, that hasn’t even started yet and won’t be started unless a war monger named Benjamin Netanyahu gets his way because of the temper tantrum he is about to throw in front of Congress and the American people.
Israel is also committing hypocrisy. As Netanyahu whines about Iran, the fact is that Israel has a nuclear weapons program of their very own. And Israel has repeatedly refused to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect their nuclear facilities. They’ve already demonstrated their willingness to commit genocide Muslims. A nuclear weapon only makes it easier to do so. It’s no wonder why Iran would want a nuclear weapon of their own. They fear a strike by an aggressive neo-con dominated Israel. How can we be sure Israel won’t be the nation that pushes the button to set the world on fire? If we are going to insist that Iran not have a nuclear weapon, then we should also insist that Israel give up their own in the interest of international security, safety, and peace. And if they don’t comply, they should be hit with the same sanctions Iran has been subject to.
Israel and Netanyahu need to learn the hard way that you can’t insult a sitting US President and abuse the far too close relationship between our two governments without consequences. President Obama is the elected leader of the United States. Netanyahu is not. By disrespecting our president, Israel disrespects us and that cannot be allowed to stand.

Anything new with Jonathan? He's been in LA filming Glee then apparently he has no roles until A New Brain at City Center in June.
I find him very, very talented as an actor and a singer. That said, I'm not sure if I find him hot or not. He's definitely good looking. No question about that; but I go from "he's hot" to "he's not that hot" on a daily basis.
Thoughts? Anything new? Is he hot?

The no shit Sherlock article of the week!
New claims from the so-called "20th hijacker" have bolstered the almost-unthinkable scenario that the 9/11 terrorists were directly backed by a Saudi royal family with intimate personal and financial ties to the Bush clan, the U.S. intelligence community, and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News.
Here's everything we know about the increasingly plausible case that the Saudis did 9/11.
The fabled "20th hijacker" says Al Qaeda and the Saudis worked hand-in-glove.
The latest bombshell claims come from Zacarias Moussaoui, a convicted Al Qaeda operative who's currently spending a life sentence in supermax prison in Colorado. Moussaoui was once fingered as a 20th hijacker for the Twin Towers plot, though no solid evidence of a connection between him and the attack has ever been revealed publicly. Moussaoui gave a two-day deposition last October in a civil lawsuit filed against Saudi Arabia by families of 9/11 victims. In his testimony, which only became public this week, Moussaoui claims that he met personally with several of Saudi Arabia's most famous and important leaders on Osama Bin Laden's behalf; that the kingdom's VIPs and its leading religious court backed Bin Laden all the way up to the 2001 attacks with tons of money and coordination; and that a Saudi diplomat based in Washington had even discussed a plan with Moussaoui to down Air Force One with a Stinger missile smuggled through the embassy.
Allegations of Saudi involvement in 9/11 have long been rumored.
The general charges are nothing new; 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudi, and had a remarkably easy time traveling through Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. The billion-dollar-plus lawsuit for which Moussaoui testified was first filed in 2002, but has moved slowly through the courts as Saudi representatives have fought it every step of the way. The 9/11 families behind the case have long maintained that Saudi officials "knowingly and directly" aided the terrorists.
Rumors have also swirled for years about 28 missing pages of the U.S. 9/11 Commission's final investigative report on the attacks. Those pages were redacted by order of the Bush administration on the grounds that their release would reveal "sources and methods that would make it harder for us to win the war on terror." But critics and even many members of the 9/11 Commission say there's another reason for the redactions: Those pages delineate Saudi involvement in the terror plot that killed nearly 3,000 people. The Obama administration, perhaps just as concerned as its predecessor about maintaining good U.S.-Saudi relations, has so far declined to release the pages, too.
But new developments suggest the ties are deeper than we ever imagined.
Besides the new Moussaoui allegations, efforts to release the 28 pages have been gathering steam in recent weeks. Former Senators Bob Graham of Florida and Bob Kerrey of Nebraska and John Lehman, ex-Navy secretary for Ronald Reagan, have also all filed affidavits in the 9/11 survivors' lawsuit saying that the Saudi terror ties need more scrutiny.
"I am convinced that there was a direct line between at least some of the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and the government of Saudi Arabia," Graham—who headed Congress' joint 9/11 inquiry and has seen the pages—wrote in his affidavit, as reported in the New York Times this week. Graham maintains there's a U.S. government "coverup" of the pages because they "point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as the principal financier" of 9/11. "This may seem stale to some but it's as current as the headlines we see today," he told the Daily Beast earlier this month.
The new allegations are all about the money.
Moussaoui says that before 9/11, he was the only Al Qaeda operative who was fluent in English and computer skills and had a business background, which is why he was privy to so much of the organization's sensitive info.
The convict explained in halting English how he helped build Al Qaeda's first computer database of its finances in the late '90s, on a Toshiba computer in Kandahar not far from the Taliban's headquarters. Specifically, the job gave him intimate knowledge of Al Qaeda's donor base: "Shaykh Osama wanted to keep a record who give money because—who give money, who—who is to be listened to or who contribute to—to the jihad."
He insists that Al Qaeda regularly got infusions of cash from the Saudi Binladin Group, the source of the family's wealth, which also did business with American private equity firms like the Carlyle Group—a so-called "ex-president's club" whose partners include a Reagan-era defense secretary and intelligence operative and former Bush Sr. secretary of state James Baker.
Bin Laden's family allegedly lied about ever cutting ties with him.
Some of those Al Qaeda donor names, Moussaoui said, stuck with him. They included Abdullah bin Laden, a half-brother of the Al Qaeda founder who had lived in America, studied at Harvard, and sworn in the weeks after 9/11 that he had "no relationship whatsoever with Osama or any of his activities." Moussaoui adds that many of bin Laden's relatives, including his mother, came to visit him in Afghanistan, and claims by the family that they had severed ties with the jihadi were "a complete lie. An absolute lie." Moussaoui said he met Abdallah bin Laden, a prominent son of Osama, in Afghanistan, and that when Abdallah returned to Saudi Arabia — where he lives today — he made a public but superficial show of cutting ties with his dad: "[T]he Saudi tell him either you fit in publicly or we take your money away."
But the Saudi princes were stalwart patrons.
Moussaoui remembered other donors, though, because they "were known within the circle of the mujahideen, some of them extremely famous, like... Waleed bin Talal... Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud... Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Al Saud, and Haifa Al Faisal Al Saud."
Those men include some of the most influential princes in Saudi Arabia's government, with deep ties to its intelligence service, and to America through tons of businesses and diplomatic posts:
Prince Turki Al Faisal recently served as Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and Great Britain, but before that, he led the Saudi intelligence services for 14 years—resigning on September 1, 2001, just days before the 9/11 attacks.
Prince Bandar bin Sultan served as a telegenic Saudi ambassador to the U.S. for more than two decades until stepping aside for Prince Turki and taking control of the kingdom's National Security Council. Bandar is especially close to George W. Bush and is widely considered as a member of the Bush family—a relationship explored in the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11.
Waleed bin Talal, another Saudi royal, is widely considered one of the most influential businessmen in the world, at one time the largest shareholder in Citicorp and the second-largest shareholder in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. In fact, his holdings in the parent corporation of Fox News—one of the biggest media beneficiaries of the post-9/11 war on terror—came under scrutiny in 2010, when it was revealed he'd given financial support to the imam of the proposed "ground zero mosque" while that proposed religious center was being blasted on Fox News. Worth at least $23.5 billion, he spent last year dumping nearly all of his News Corp stock—$188 million worth—in a move that was publicly acknowledged just this Wednesday, a day after the New York Times published Moussaoui's allegations. However, he still holds 6.6 percent of 21st Century Fox—which owns Fox News—so he still has a stake in the war-loving, terrorist-hating network's popularity.
Moussaoui also claims he traveled from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia twice for face-to-face meetings with Prince Turki on bin Laden's behalf. Moussaoui—who says he was picked because he was one of the few non-Saudis in Al Qaeda at the time, and less likely to be pressured by the princes—provided Turki and other Saudi VIPs with sealed letters from bin Laden. The trips, by private plane, had been arranged in the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, Moussaoui says.
The courier says he didn't know what was in the letters, but he suspected they pertained to the line of Saudi succession after the eventual death of King Fahd—a public enemy of Bin Laden's who was ill at the time. The meetings with Turki included many other Saudi princes, Moussaoui says: "there was Abdullah and there was Sultan, Bandar, and there was Waleed bin Talal, and Salman." On completion of the trips, Mouassaoui says, he received letters from Turki to deliver back to bin Laden in Afghanistan.
It wasn't just the playboys; it was the "priests," too.
Moussaoui also claims that Al Qaeda's donors included all of the men on Saudi Arabia's Majlis ash-Shura ulema—the religious council that promulgates and reviews all of the Kingdom's laws. Moussaoui says Osama bin Laden took a position "of complete reverence and obedience" to the ulema, likening it to a Catholic's obedience toward the pope.
Moussaoui says that in everything bin Laden did, he "was doing it with the express advice and consent and directive of the ulema." The implication is clear: Al Qaeda would not have risen as a terrorist organization, and 9/11 would not have happened, without the blessing of Saudi Arabia's political and religious leadership.
Saudi officials gave material support for terror and actively discussed terror plans.
The Saudis have had plenty of practice supporting jihad; in the 1980s, they helped Ronald Reagan's CIA funnel cash and weapons to mujaheddin fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan—mujaheddin who included bin Laden and his future Al Qaeda partners. Moussaoui says his travel to Chechnya and the flow of fighters to Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan was made possible with Saudi dollars and work done through Islamic charities and other front organizations. Saudi government money bought bin Laden tanks, Kalashnikovs, bulldozers, salaries for fighters and their families—"everything," Moussaoui says.
The inmate recounts practicing with explosives and several terror plots that never came to anything, but his most sensational claim is "that he discussed a plan to shoot down Air Force One with a Stinger missile with a staff member at the Saudi Embassy in Washington," according to the Times. Moussaoui said he'd met with the diplomat and discussed scouting locations "suitable to launch a Stinger attack and, then, after, be able to escape." His contact also discussed the possibility of Moussaoui smuggling the Stinger into the U.S. through the Saudi embassy. But "my plan was not to launch the attack," he says, "it was only to see the feasibility of the attack."
The CIA's current head was pals with the Saudi princes while all of this went on.
John Brennan, tapped to be the CIA director by President Obama two years ago, has special expertise with the Saudi royals implicated in Moussaoui's testimony: the Arabic-fluent Brennan operated for the CIA in Saudi Arabia for years. In 1998, then-CIA director George Tenet appointed Brennan to be the agency's chief of station—its top spy and "liaison," as Tenet later put it—in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Brennan's counterpart in Saudi intelligence, with whom he met often, was Prince Turki al-Faisal—the same royal Moussaoui claims to have worked with on bin Laden's behalf.
Those facts lead to some uncomfortable questions: Was the CIA's top man in Saudia Arabia—and the current head of American intelligence-gathering efforts—so bad at his job that he was working with Al Qaeda supporters without knowing it? Or worse: Did he have an idea of the royals' pro-bin Laden activities, and not sound an alarm?
Moussaoui's testimony, while damning, deserves ample scrutiny.
"I swear by Allah that everything I say until the end of this testimony will be true," Moussaoui told his questioners, four times in a row. "May Allah curse the liar."
But it's unclear just how reliable the convicted terrorist really is. He's lied before—as when, after years of denying any involvement in 9/11, he claimed in a 2006 cross-examination that he and "shoe bomber" Richard Reid were supposed to crash a plane into the White House in the 2001 attacks. (Most experts discount that claim and say Moussaoui may have been angling for a death sentence to complete his martyrdom.) And a defense expert testified at Moussaoui's trial that he was mentally ill, diagnosing him as a paranoid schizophrenic with grand delusions, though the court found him fit to stand trial.
Ultimately, almost a decade and a half have passed since 9/11, plenty of time to embellish a narrative Moussaoui had never before revealed—a tidy narrative that names all of Saudi Arabia's most rich and famous players.
His story runs counter to the narrative that Bin Laden and Saudi Arabia hated each other.
One reason to question Moussaoui's account is that from the days immediately after 9/11 to the present, the prevailing theory has been that Osama bin Laden always hated the Saudi regime for cooperating with America, and he would never have done business with U.S.-friendly princes who publicly declared him an enemy in Saudi Arabia.
Moussaoui maintains that while bin Laden might have battled publicly with some of Saudi Arabia's ruling family members, including then-King Fahd, Osama enjoyed some of the family's support and never crossed the country's religious authorities: "Osama bin Laden went against Al Saud, but not all of Al Saud, he went against Fahd."
The royals who supported Al Qaeda did it for many reasons, Moussaoui said. It inoculated them against the anger that many jihadis felt toward King Fahd. It also kept the jihadis busy in far-flung, dangerous climes, preventing them from focusing on Saudi Arabia as a target. And it kept the donors in good standing with the religious authorities of the ulema, who could have condemned them for the country's "widespread homosexuality," financial practices, and embrace of American troops. The point, Moussaoui said, was to be able to say: "Look, see, we are not against Islam or the jihad, we finance bin Laden…You don't finance jihad if you don't believe in Allah."
Saudi Arabia says it's in the clear. Other insiders say that's bunk.
The Times says Saudi Arabia's embassy in the U.S. sent the paper a press release on Monday insisting "the national Sept. 11 commission had rejected allegations that the Saudi government or Saudi officials had funded Al Qaeda." The Saudis also have called Moussaoui a lying lunatic and lobbied for the release of the infamous 28 pages of the 9/11 Commission Report, eager to prove they don't incriminate the government.
Their case is supported by the 9/11 Commission's former executive director, Philip Zelikow, who insists there's nothing more to investigate, and the 9/11-Saudi ties are nothing but rumor. "[W]hat we found is reflected in the commission report," he told the Times Thursday. (It's important to note, however, that some 9/11 families had questioned the appointment of Zelikow to the 9/11 Commission, since he had been a George W. Bush supporter who helped the president pick his cabinet—the very same officers whose relationships and job performance were supposed to be scrutinized by the 9/11 Commission.)
Other respected bipartisans who served on that commission and Congress' joint panel disagree with Saudi Arabia—and, by implication, with Zelikow. Lehman and Kerrey have leveled fresh accusations against the Saudis. And then, of course, there is Graham.
The Saudis "have continued, maybe accelerated their support for the most extreme form of Islam," Graham told the Daily Beast recently. Al Qaeda? ISIS? Ideologically and logistically, he said they were all "a creation of Saudi Arabia."

Twilight star Kellan Lutz has been plagued by gay rumors like most other single studs in Hollywood, but the actor says he’s not gay and only insecure girls assume he is.
“I don’t Google myself, but I’ve heard that people think I’m gay… Most of the girlfriends I’ve had have come after me. So it’s really funny when girls get offended because I don’t hit on them,” Kellan, 26, told The Advocate‘s Brandon Voss in a recent interview.
“They’ll transform their insecurity into, ‘Oh, that makes sense, because I heard you’re into guys and have a boyfriend.’ I’m like, ‘Seriously? That’s your tactic to get me to like you?’ There will always be rumors, but I know who I am.”
PHOTOS: Kellan Lutz And Anne V Model For Dylan George
However, Kellan expresses no animosity towards the LGBT community and says he loves his gay fans — and even prefers them as roommates!
“Oh, they’re the best. I love them. When I meet gay fans out and about, they’re so great to talk to — and I’m big on hugging, because I’m from the Midwest,” Kellan said.
“I’m proud to have those fans, and their support means a lot to me. I don’t want just girls coming to my movies; I want guys to come too.
Kellan Lutz Says He Doesn’t Have Time To Find A Girlfriend
“Honestly, I’d prefer to live with gay guys. They’re the cleanest, and they just take care of stuff. Because I’m always away, coming home to a clean house means a lot to me. Trust me, I’ve lived with a lot of roommates, and straight guys are just kids who don’t pick up after themselves.”
To read Kellan’s full interview, click here.

One well-placed insider told TheWrap that the ratings-challenged “All In” with Chris Hayes — airing in the cable news sweet spot of 8 p.m. ET — might get uprooted for a different timeslot.
“Ronan [Farrow] and Joy [Reid] — something has to change there,” another insider told TheWrap, adding that many within MSNBC believe one of the two — Farrow at 1 p.m. Reid at 2 p.m. — will see their shows canceled soon.

A social and economic system that respects the right of each human being to be free to guide his own life as he chooses, that requires of men respectful and courteous conduct toward their fellow human beings, and which fosters a modesty of belief against any presumption against paternalism is surely the most ethical system of social cooperation ever stumbled upon my mankind.

But yet as much detail as the New York Times story has on so many aspects of his life, it mentions nothing about the legitimate news speculation of him being gay and closeted and him shutting down his Twitter and Instagram accounts when it was discovered that he was following 19-year old diver Tom Daley. Or why he voted against marriage equality and against the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
Come on, NY Times!

[quote] Start a thread series [?] on Jack [F]alahee please. He is in [G]lass [C]loset and is a part of [the show,] [How to Get Away with Murder]. I was shocked to see no thread on him while umpteen are [about] [C]olto[n] [H]ayes. Yikes.
[Here's a gif from] his [I]nstagram link:

Human rights campaigners have slammed a decision by award-winning musician John Legend to perform at a state-backed event in Bahrain next week.
The Grammy Award-winning singer, who won an Oscar on Sunday for Best Original Song for “Glory” from the film Selma, is set to perform on Monday at the country’s Spring of Culture festival in Arad Fort, which is organised and part funded by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the country’s ministry of culture.
However, campaigners in the country have attacked the singer for agreeing to perform at a government-backed event in a country where the Sunni-dominated regime has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the use of excessive force against protesters, extra judicial killings, arbitrary detention and torture.
Mr Legend’s performance – tickets have already sold out – comes after he spoke out for human rights at the most politically charged Academy Awards in recent memory on Sunday night.
Accepting his award for his contribution to Selma, which depicts Dr Martin Luther King’s momentous battle to pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Mr Legend quoted Nina Simone, saying that “it’s an artist’s duty to reflect the times in which we live.”
His speech also touched on several social justice issues, including the United States’ high incarceration rates, sparking fierce political debate. However the outspoken musician now faces charges of hypocrisy after Bahraini campaigners said he was being used to “burnish” the “bloodied reputation” of the regime.
Dr Ala’a al-Shehabi, a prominent human rights activist from Bahrain Watch, said: “Bahrainis have been enduring a civil rights struggle for decades. Having John Legend sing in Bahrain should be in honour of the people who have lost life and limb in this struggle. Not in honour of the regime that wants to use him to burnish its bloodied reputation.”
He added: “Bahrain is facing a human rights calamity given its small size and small population… Scores of ageing and peaceful political leaders are behind bars. If Martin Luther King was Bahraini today, he'd be serving a long prison sentence, for all of the island's leaders are in prison, on trial or in exile.
This call for Mr Legend to reconsider the performance was echoed by Sayed Yousif Almuhafdah, the vice president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He said: “I’d like to tell John Legend that my people, the people of Bahrain, are fighting the same injustice and discrimination African Americans suffered in the United States. They’re living under a dictatorship that has stripped them from their most basic human rights, democracy, justice, and freedom of speech. Bahrainis democracy campaigners are being attacked on daily basis, arrested, tortured, and unjustly detained. The people of Bahrain are paying their lives as a price for their freedom.”
Mr Legend’s performance will also embarrass Amnesty International after he lent his name to a high-profile freedom of expression campaign by the charity in November.
At the time the singer said he was “proud” to support the “Write for Rights” campaign which seeks to empower people “to write, tweet and speak out on human rights abuses.”
His performance in Bahrain on Monday will be doubly embarrassing for Amnesty International after it issued a damming report this week on human rights violations in the country. The report found that Sunni-dominated government “continued to stifle and punish dissent” in the wake of political unrest in the country in 2011 when troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia help the it smash protesters who were calling to end the domination of the ruling al-Khalifa dynasty, which has controlled the country for more than 200 years.

At least receiving.
Although I enjoy it, I can never get 'clean down there'. Always fudgy.
I just can't see leaving the bed to repair to the bathroom for a dump, then a douche, then a shower. Then possible leakage.
The sound of me blasting shart into the commode has to be a passion-killer.

Both ladies reined supreme in the 1980s as the queens of AM Television. For ten years (1980 to the end of 1989) these two battled and fought each other for the number one spot in the morning. Anchoring two hours of Live breaking news five days a week.\
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Both women were the same age at the time, and both had high profile pregnancies on the air. Making them the undisputed super moms of the 1980s.\
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Yet only one of them could be number one. Joan reined supreme from 1980 to 1986 when GMA was number one.\
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However Jane found her mojo in 1986, as Today was number one from that year until the end of 1989.\
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And surprisingly both ladies were friends off-camera.\
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So whom did you prefer to share your breakfasts with? Jane or Joan?

Didn't anyone else watch the premiere this past week?
(It's available on-demand if you didn't catch it)
I was surprised to see a big co-ed shower scene, complete with lots of hot male butts on SyFy channel.
The show is a sorta-sequel to the movie "Legion" that almost nobody saw (but I did, on cable anyway).
Anyone else catch it?

I just shave a little 'v' section at the top of my chest instead of my whole chest so hairs don't stick out the tops of my shirts. Who has time for the whole damn chest?
I sometimes kick stuff, like nuts, under the fridge instead of bending over to pick it up.
I know y'all are just as lazy.

I always have, since I was a kid. Loved when the daytime talk shows like "Donahue" and "Geraldo" would have them on.
Loved when the "exercise" magazines featured male dance troupes.
I almost like men wearing almost nothing than nothing at all.
I love finding converted to DVD old stripper videos. Yeah, the mes are greasy and long-haired (80s) and often straight (though I don't always believe that every troupe is sooo straight and there are no gay men. Come on.)
Weirdly, nowadays it seems like more and more male dancers have their dancers just in small posing straps with a full back. Makes no difference as it's still hot but anybody know why this is?

Our leadership keeps thinking that the answer to economic growth and ultimately job creation is more innovation, and we continue to invest billions in it. But an innovation is worthless until an entrepreneur creates a business model for it and turns that innovative idea in something customers will buy. Because we have misdiagnosed the cause and effect of economic growth, we have misdiagnosed the cause and effect of job creation.
For the first time in 35 years, American business deaths now outnumber business births.
Let's get one thing clear: This economy is never truly coming back unless we reverse the birth and death trends of American businesses. It is catastrophic to be dead wrong on the biggest issue of the last 50 years -- the issue of where jobs come from...when small and medium-sized businesses are dying faster than they're being born, so is free enterprise.
And when free enterprise dies, America dies with it.

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia (W. W. Hudson & W. A. Ricketts, 1980). The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored. They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire (A. H. Buss & M. Perry, 1992). Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.
This study examined the relationship between homophobia (defined as self-reported negative affect, avoidance, and aggression toward homosexuals) and homosexual aggression. Self-identified heterosexual college men were assigned to homophobic (n = 26) and nonhomophobic (n = 26) groups on the basis of their scores on the Homophobia Scale (HS; L. W. Wright, H. E. Adams, & J. A. Bernat, 1999). Physical aggression was examined by having participants administer shocks to a fictitious opponent during a competitive reaction time (RT) task under the impression that the study was examining the relationship between sexually explicit material and RT. Participants were exposed to a male homosexual erotic videotape, their affective reactions were assessed, and they then competed in the RT task against either a heterosexual or a homosexual opponent. The homophobic group reported significantly more negative affect, anxiety, and anger-hostility after watching the homosexual erotic videotape than did the nonhomophobic group. Additionally, the homophobic group was significantly more aggressive toward the homosexual opponent, but the groups did not differ in aggression toward the heterosexual opponent.
Discuss...

On early Sunday, Twitter exploded in fury as a “Saturday Night Live” sketch left the majority of viewers disappointed and offended.
The skit, which featured “50 Shades of Grey” star Dakota Johnson, poked fun at ISIS while parodying a recently aired Toyota Camry commercial in which an emotional father (played by Taran Killiam) drives his daughter to the airport so she can join the US army. Except this time, the daughter (played by Johnson) is joining the Islamic State.
Watch the short sketch below to see what all the fuss is about

Joe Biden To Headline HRC's Spring Equality Convention
By On Top Magazine Staff; Published: March 03, 2015
Vice President Joe Biden will address the nation's largest LGBT rights group this week.
Biden will headline the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) annual Spring Equality Convention on Friday in Washington, D.C.
“Vice President Biden is an incredible ally to the LGBT community and a strong advocate for fairness and equality for all people,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a blog post. “He has played an integral role in the administration's unprecedented legacy of progress for the LGBT community and continues to be an important voice internationally for equality. We are honored he'll be joining us to speak at our Spring Equality Convention.”
Biden announced his support for marriage equality in 2012, ahead of President Barack Obama. Within days, Obama announced that he had “evolved” on the issue and now supports same-sex marriage.
The HRC Spring Equality Convention consists of training, workshops and a lobby day.

She's made a name for herself as the writer and star of HBO series Girls - and Lena Dunham has been spending her wages wisely.
The 28-year-old has invested $2.7million on a new house in Los Angeles, which can be viewed on The Agency, and has three bedrooms and bathrooms and sits on 2,500 square ft of land.
Complete with a stunning swimming pool, the white building has stunning country style interiors, with open fires and a shabby chic setting.

Well, I don't know what we did to cause Chapter Two of this thread to not open. Mr. Webmaster???
Anyway... I enjoyed that thread and I do not want to derail it at all. So, until Two reopens, if at all, let's proceed to three! It would happen anyway.
Mr. Originator of that thread would you please the requirements of this thread. Thank you.
Reminder: Some images are NSFW and please note--Like this first one: NSFW!

The "Luke Evans is straight now!" one was just bizarre. Giving a guy who was once out a "girlfriend" and shoving him back in the closet....then suddenly forgetting about the girlfriend and doing the "I don't talk about my personal life" thing. What were his people even thinking?
Can you think of any other PR campaigns that were just strange or did more harm than good?

Hey guys, I'm 23 and I'm struggling with how to feel about this situation. I have a friend whom I've known for about a year. We are not romantically involved in any way - I know him through another friend. I've hung out with him at parties, and he's a really nice guy.
I find out that a month ago, he got drunk at a party and drove his car on the wrong side of the freeway at 4am, hit a taxi head-on and killed a passenger, and injured two others. He himself had just minor injuries.
I'm not sure how to feel about this. I think what he did was completely repulsive and horrendous. That person is dead. But do I support him as a friend? Is what he did unforgivable? How do I support somebody who did something so heinous? Especially when it's at odds with my impressions of him - he is genuinely a nice guy, but he made a terrible decision and has to live with the consequences. Also just fyi, he is extremely successful, he's young around 24, and went to Harvard, Oxford, and was in business school.
Have any of you experienced something similar? I feel like I should be supporting him as a friend, but I don't know how when I am so disgusted by what he did. What would you guys do? Thanks in advance.

I remember when Aliens came out the actress who played the very butch Vasquez was talked about a lot. Total Recall's Rachel Ticotin was the same. They seem to have only had very minor roles since then.

I'm too direct. Anything for a joke. Lots of fast links. I end up taking over the place.
People who run the groups don't like it (they get jealous)....& I don't like them & their horrid curt messages, please don't do this, please don't do that...
I'm too DL & I'm at the point of no return.
Anyone else find they don't fit in elsewhere?

Fox Americanized the UK Broadchurch for a US audience and it BOMBED
NBC tried to put their own stamp on Australia's The Slap. That shows is circling the drain.
Now ABC has imported Secrets & Lies from Australia and that has gotten horrible reviews.
What went wrong?

This thread replaces the earlier one where the links did not work for some people. I have switched the photos to a different hosting site.
Oh, and to answer another question, the reason I started a separate thread is because these are all Israeli men - so I thought they could have their own special thread separate from the other men & soldiers etc.
#1 - Naked Israeli ass in front of a gorgeous lake

We haven't spoken in 10 years.
The dream was totally hot. We were sharing as bed and I think I was either sucking his dick or I was fucking him between his thighs. The next thing I know, we were in the laundry room and he was on top of the washing machine.
He was trying to get into position so I could toss his salad, but trying not to rattle the machine too much and wake my boyfriend (wtf?).
Have you ever had a dream like this?

ROSIE O’DONNELL wrecked her marriage when she “went nuts” in a Thanksgiving Day tantrum fueled by booze and drugs!
In a blockbuster world exclusive, The National ENQUIRER can reveal the untold story of Rosie’s relationship-ending meltdown, which left terrified wife Michelle Rounds locked in a bathroom and fearing for the safety of both herself and their 2-year-old daughter.
Multiple sources have confirmed the shocking incident took place last November at Rosie’s home on Casey Key – north of Sarasota, Fla. – with raging Rosie throwing a holiday tantrum in front of Michelle’s visiting relatives!
The dinner disaster began when the former television host announced to several guests that she was planning to divorce Michelle.
“Everyone was pretty much floored, after having been invited to Florida for the holiday,” said one insider. “At the meal, Rosie just remained stone silent. It was uncomfortable for everyone.”
Finally, Michelle dared to confront Rosie about her talk of ending their marriage.
A source said: “Rosie went into a rage. Her screaming was loud enough for everyone to hear.”
That’s when Michelle locked herself in the bathroom, as her rampaging wife repeatedly screamed at her: “Where’s the Xanax, b---h?”
Said one source: “Michelle knew the marriage was over right then and there. She loved Rosie, but she could no longer live this way. Michelle was scared stiff and spent the night sleeping on a towel, locked in the bathroom!”
Meanwhile, Michelle’s embarrassed family was “mortified” by Rosie’s behavior.
“She turned the place into a house of horrors!” said an insider.
Rosie wasn’t finished ruining the holiday, though – she ended up crashing into one of the family members’ cars!
“Rosie had been taking her usual meds and drinking wine all night. She decided she was going to spend the night in a hotel, but left while clearly in a drunken stupor,” said another insider.
“Rosie eventually came back to the house, but – either on her way to the hotel, or when she returned – she hit one of the cars belonging to Michelle’s family.”
The family then witnessed the same kind of savage mood swing that had characterized the comic’s second stint hosting “The View.”
“In a bizarre ending, Rosie acted as if nothing had happened,” explained one insider.
“She just mentioned that the whole group would be going on a boating expedition the next day, and instructed someone to make sandwiches for the trip. “Rosie said, ‘Make mine roast beef, but hold the mustard!’ That’s the last thing Michelle’s family heard from her.”
They weren’t interested in hearing anything more.
“In the morning, the family headed to the airport as fast as they could,” said a source.

I want to go to St. Petersburg, Russia, but I'm a little afraid. As a tourist. I don't have anyone to go with, so I'd be on my own. My friends have no money. I have no interest in hooking up there. I just want to see the art, architecture, history via the a & a, culture, such as it is.
I've been to London, Paris, Berlin, elsewhere alone, but worry I'll be in a place where there is no English spoken.
Suggestions? Aside from "Grow a pair". How long is enough?

[quote] “I think that our show represents a huge opportunity to stay in the culture beyond entertainment value and there’s an intrinsic nature of you have the gay factor, right? So, obviously, Lee is gay. That was an important storyline for him. I think it’s important for people to see themselves. Even within the Black community. But if you aren’t really, really taking it off of screen and making it live you aren’t really, really taking it off of screen and making it live in the community in a significant way…like I know Jussie, he is gay, and he’s very committed to issues around the LGBT community. He and I have a very close relationship.”
Meanwhile, Smollet just this weekend said the following
[quote]“I am not willing to confirm or deny anything, I live my life…if anyone is looking to put me in a box, then that’s not going to happen."

Nascar driver Tim Richmond died of AIDS in 1988. His family proptly stated he contracted the disease through ''unprotected heterosexual sex''. Was he the first Nascar ''rainbow warrior''? Did he get it from shooting up? The uber-hetero world of nascar did not really talk too much/too openly about Richmond. Any older DLers know/ remember anything about this?

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — An Orange County, Calif., attorney has filed a proposed ballot measure with the California Attorney General’s office asking voters to criminalize homosexuality in the state and impose a death penalty sentence.
The filing, submitted along with the required fee of $200, will allow attorney Matthew G. McLaughlin to begin the process of collecting the approximately 365,000 signatures needed to put the measure before California voters on an upcoming ballot, reports Raw Story.
The proposed “Sodomite Suppression Act” was filed by McLaughlin and received by the initiative coordinator at the Office of the Attorney General on Feb. 26, according to documents on file with the AG’s office.
Under McLaughlin’s proposal, “The abominable crime against nature known as buggery, called also sodomy, is a monstrous evil that Almighty God, giver of freedom and liberty, commands us to suppress on pain of our utter destruction even as he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha.”
“The People of California wisely command, in the fear of God, that any person who willingly touches another person of the same gender for purposes of sexual gratification be put to death by bullets to the head or by any other convenient method.”
Little is known about the petitioner or if his filing is on behalf of a client.
The filing indicates McLaughlin is an attorney from Huntington Beach, Calif., and records at the State Bar of California show that McLaughlin is on active status and licensed to practice law in the state.
He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California Irvine and his law degree from George Mason University School of Law in Virginia.
The address on file at the State Bar, and on McLaughlin’s filing, routes to a Mailbox Express store, however, not a law office.
In 2004, McLaughlin filed for a California ballot measure to put the King James Bible in the hands of public school students as a literary text.

Dress shirts, t-shirts, wifebeaters, jackets, whatever.
For the nitpickers, don't shit over someone's post if you don't happen to like it for whatever reason. Just move on!
Other than that, let the hotness begin!

Mo'nique claims that she now knows why the offers didn't start flooding in after her big Oscar win in 2010.
The former star of The Parkers, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the title character's abusive, domineering mother in Precious, writes in an essay in the Feb. 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter that director-producer Lee Daniels clued her in just a few months ago.
Noting that an Oscar win "normally does" lead to "more respect, choices, money" in the business, Mo'Nique writes, "But I got a phone call from Lee Daniels...And he said to me, 'Mo'Nique, you've been blackballed.' I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'Because you didn't play the game.'"
After steamrolling the competition throughout the 2009-10 awards season, Mo'Nique famously didn't campaign for her Oscar, going on to say in her acceptance speech that she was grateful to the Academy "for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics."
"I said, 'Well, what game is that?'" her THR piece continues. "He gave me no response."
People who would say that she's "difficult," "tactless" or "tacky" would "probably be right," the actress writes. "That's why I have my beautiful husband because he's so full of tact. I'm just a girl from Baltimore. But being from that place, you learn not to let anybody take advantage of you."
Since co-starring in Precious with Gabourey Sidibe, Lenny Kravitz and an unrecognizable Mariah Carey, the 47-year-old actress only has a few credits to her name, none of them major theatrical releases.
Mo'Nique also writes that she was offered the role of Forest Whitaker's wife in Lee Daniels' The Butler, a part that ultimately went to Oprah Winfrey; a role in the Daniels-produced Fox hit Empire; and the role of Richard Pryor's grandmother [also now set to be played by Oprah] in the upcoming biopic Daniels is working on—but, she adds, "they all just went away."
In response to Mo'Nique, Daniels said in a statement to THR: "Mo'Nique is a creative force to be reckoned with. Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community. I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on, however the consensus among the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles."

I know I am so late to this party that the cater waiters are already real estate agents.
That Jesus actor is in it...he's sexy and that odd little Lost guy.
It's kind of fun...
Is he still a Mel Gibson apologist? Was he ever? i don't know.
What's the scoop? Any?
Like it?

Openly gay, experimental filmmaker Todd Haynes burst upon the scene two years after his graduation from Brown University with his now-infamous 43-minute cult treasure "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" (1987). Seizing upon the inspired gimmick of using Barbie and Ken dolls to sympathetically recount the story of the pop star's death from anorexia, he spent months making miniature dishes, chairs, costumes, Kleenex and Ex-Lax boxes, and Carpenters' records to create the film's intricate, doll-size mise-en-scene. The result was both audacious and accomplished as the dolls seemingly ceased to be dolls leaving the audience weeping for the tragic singer.

I think he's a great actor, and very handsome. Nowadays, I never really hear about him that much either on the news or on Datalounge. I often wonder if he, like many things in life, have gone out of style. I hope not. Even though he's middle aged, and slightly chubby, I still adore him and will continue to.

I get they have to stage it so the fourth wall is broken, but you would think that they would try to match the interior layout as close to the exterior layout picture they show as possible. The placement of the stairs tend to be the worst part.
A few shows managed to do a good job of it. Roseanne's first floor was very close to matching its exterior picture, and looked like a realistic lower middle class house to boot.

Is this web site well-known in DL circles, or only since the Casey Anthony trial? I see a lot of people mentioning it.\
\
I joined it awhile back. I''m glad some have picked up on the craziness happening over there. lmao.

Sarah Wallace, an "award-winning investigative reporter" at WABC-7 in New York, abruptly quit the station Thursday after allegedly clashing with station management, reports the NY Daily News. She'd been with the station more than 30 years.
By Friday her online bio and Twitter account had been deleted. But she'll keep the Emmys.

She wants to do a comedy tour because now she's a successful comedian. Move over Oscars, hello, American Comedy Awards!
[quote]Madonna: Actually, I quite like the idea doing a different kind of tour—and don’t get any ideas because this is not gonna happen right now—where I would sing songs and play guitar and just have maybe one other musician out there with me; it’s just me and a guitar and a good bottle of wine. I could talk in between each song and tell stories, or do some of my stand-up comedy, which I’m actually quite good at. I love it when I see a stand-up comedian have some amazing back-and-forth dealing with a heckler in the audience. I could really have a field day with something like that. I don’t think you understand how funny I am—I mean, maybe not right now, but in general. I do some of my best stand-up comedy during sound checks.

Visiting family and someone brought a child. My niece technically, I suppose. It's so loud. It keeps screaming "Poop!" and singing the "Nationwide is on your side" jingle. I'm hiding in a walk-in closet upstairs waiting for it to go away. Ugh. Why do people keep making those things?

[quote]The Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion was a television signal hijacking that occurred in Chicago, Illinois, United States on the evening of November 22, 1987. It is an example of what is known in the television business as broadcast signal intrusion. The intruder was successful in interrupting two broadcast television stations within the course of three hours. Neither the hijacker nor any known accomplices have ever been found, caught or identified, which leaves the incident unsolved.
Here's the actual footage. Someone on Reddit claims to know their identity.

Rebel Heart release date: Friday, March 6.
Roundup thus far: The tracks got leaked. Madonna got sucked into Twitter wars about her use of altered photos of black civil rights heroes to flog the album's theme. And the lead single Living For Love has so far failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100. She performed it live at the Grammys, to mixed reviews.
Last time we did this (MDNA), Madonna did manage to eke out one week at the #1 spot. (Billboard album chart) Can she do it again?

Lately Darryl Hannah's taken up with Neil Young who left his wife of 36 years to openly be with her. People around Young say that Hannah is bleeding his bank accounts dry. She has convinced him to put quite a bit of his property in her name or in their names jointly, although they have been together less than a year. His friends are worried.
Is she a gold-digging succubus?

The film was made in 1992 by the Dutch. It is a story of a Canadian soldier, during WWll, who falls in love this teenage boy while stationed in Holland. I watched this film at a friend''s home last night. I thought it was interesting and a little weird. What do you think? They would never had made that movie in the states. But they might if it were a young girl instead of a young boy.

I counted them today. I really don't have neighbors (foreclosed homes or sketchy rentals)so that's not a problem.
I put out about six bowls of cheap dry food mixed with a couple cans of Nine Lives, twice a day. I realized it costs about $100 a month, and I'm not well-off.
I feel so bad for them. They just hang around all day waiting for the next meal. I also put water out for them.
Why do I do this?

We're maligned! Told that we are finished after 35! The younger gays love to make fun of us... and unfortunately, some of them will not even reach our ages.
This thread features hot men 40, and older. It is intended to compliment those who are still looking good, and loving life! It is intended to inspire others who may have given up, and let them know that it isn't over, but it's up to them! It is intended for those, who are younger, to pause, and think; "Wait a minute...just maybe I would."
Post your pics! Better yet, post your pics with ages, if you know them! Feel free to write your thoughts about older men, and what you think of them!
LET'S DISCUSS AND SEE HOT SILVER DADDIES!!!
...and of course, this will be NSFW!
I'll start with a few:
Actor; David Pevsner--55 years old

March 2, 2015
The notoriously vitriolic and intolerant congregation expresses regret over not attending the 83-year-old actor’s private services
Westboro Baptist Church had every intention to picket “Star Trek” actor Leonard Nimoy‘s Los Angeles funeral on Sunday, but the congregation, known for spewing caustic and intolerant rhetoric at high-profile funerals, was unable to attend because the location of the services were kept private.
“Leonard Nimoy‘s funeral is today, but nobody is sharing WHERE. So Westboro AND @WilliamShatner can’t attend :(,” the church wrote in a Twitter message accompanying a Vine video of a man holding a neon “Love Thy Neighbor Equals Rebuke” sign.
See Video: Leonard Nimoy’s Best Roles Collected: Mr. Spock and Beyond
The WBC is notorious for sending members of its congregation to the funerals of soldiers and celebrities, so that they can picket the services with signs preaching intolerance and homophobia.
The group’s mention of William Shatner was a reference to the actor’s recent tweet where the 83-year-old admitted he would be unable to attend the funeral of Nimoy, his longtime “Star Trek” co-star and friend, as he was previously committed to a charitable Red Cross function in Florida.
“I feel really awful,” he had tweeted. “Here I am doing charity work and one of my dearest friends is being buried.”

CBC – 8 hours ago
The question of what's a normal sized penis now has a well-informed answer.
Doctors searched through 17 published studies studies on more than 15,000 men who had their penis size measured by a health professional and graphed the averages in Tuesday's issue of BJU International, formerly the British Journal of Urology.
The graphs will help doctors reassure the large majority of men that their penis size is in the normal range, said study author Dr. David Veale, of King's College London.
For men with small penis anxiety, education and counselling may be helpful, Veale and his team said.
"It is a hidden problem," Veale said in an email. "Men are more likely to seek solutions on the internet with lotions potions, extenders or surgery."
Some men who are preoccupied and severely distressed with the size or shape of their penis may be diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder, one of Veale's specialities.
The researchers say measuring penis size is important in assessing men who complain of a small penis and to investigate the relationship between condom failure and penile dimensions.
The average measurements were:
- Flaccid length 9.16 cm (3.61 in.).
- Flaccid stretched length 13.24 cm (5.21 in.).
- Erect length 13.12 cm (5.17 in.).
- Flaccid girth or circumference 9.31 cm (3.67 in.).
- Erect circumference 11.66 cm (4.59 in.).
Stretched flaccid length looks to be an excellent estimate of erect penile length, they said.
The reviewers recommended taking the measurements in a private, air-conditioned consulting room using a disposable tape measure.
Flaccid circumference is measured mid-shaft, length is skin to tip and bone to tip.
One of the limitations is relatively few erect measurements have been clinically done. Study volunteers may also have been more confident in their penis size than the general male population.
In 2006, the reviewers noted a large internet survey of heterosexual men and women suggested 85 per cent of women were satisfied with their partner's penis size and 55 per cent of men were satisfied with their own size. The preferences may differ in the homosexual community, the researchers said.

Live in LA and am flying May 6th to Amsterdam for a one week riverboat cruise up through Germany and ending in Basel, Switzerland. I can get out of everything for around $200.00. Should I go considering the volcanic ash situation?

Not the exclusively gay porn star Adam Wilde, but the one who did straight films. Had his ass eaten on camera in several films, and fucked like a champ. He didn't have a long dick, but it was thick. One of the last vids he did was a solo thing where he used a dildo on himself. Passed away from a heart attack a few years ago.

Recently watched an interview she gave to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Wonderful woman, and she's not afraid to look her age. (She looks good). But I get the sense that she's not interested in acting anymore. She's not fond of most current television. She would rather advocate for mental health.
But there has to be one real good role out there for her, preferably in a motion picture. Something to give her a second Oscar.

Lordy, Peter is back. And he is looking hotter than ever!
And Lisa is starting to showcase her "Pump" staff. Is a spinoff in the works? I sincerely hope so...now that will be something to watch! I the meantime, presenting Peter:

He certainly has many of the classic traits of a closeted gay man, including his ambiguous marriage and the "he man" posturing. The homophobia in the recent Associated Press interview is a bit too contrived.

A friend is about to go the diaper route because he has to get up about 6 times a night to urinate. He says he can't take the overactive bladder meds and he's just tired. He wants to know if he'll eventually become incontinent if he retrains his body to pee in adult diapers.

Just saw a hilarious documentary on cable here in the UK: "My Husband Is Not Gay" - it may be not new and I am late to the party. It features a group of men, all married, in Salt Lake City, so they are part of the Mormon community where you have to be seen to be married with kids. These gay men really aspire to this with the help of their lovely wives. They are not gay of course, they suffer from what is referred to as 'S S A', which is same sex attraction which is treated like an affliction with no cure.
The couples meet and compare notes, the men cant even look at the attractive waiter in the restaurant as the wife wonders if he finds him attractive. How do people live like this? Then a single man joins their group, he also suffers from SSA but wants to meet a girl and marry and have a famiy too, so the others set up a blind date for him, and in a toe-curling scene at the end he confesses his affliction to her .....
The guys have one bit of release, they go on camping weekends now and then, and I guess what goes on at the camping weekend stays there. The look on one of the wife' face when the husband tells her is going on the camping weekend says it all. I suppose the fraus get the kids and the family life which keeping their husbands on a tight leash, most of the time. I bet these are the kind of men who stop off at restrooms before heading home for the weekend .....

Political leaders in St. Petersburg are about to vote on law that will make it illegal for any person to write a book, publish an article or speak in public about being gay, lesbian or transgender. The ruling party led by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin could make millions of people invisible with the stroke of a pen.
Human rights defenders around the country are doing everything they can to stop it. They are risking their freedom to organize flashmobs and protests, but they are afraid that it won't be enough.
Right now, the world needs to speak up and tell Russian authorities to drop the bill. Join this call to leaders around the world to reach out to their counterparts in the Russian government - and ask them to reject this discriminatory and anti-democratic law.

I am thinking about selling some of my work on Etsy. Was it hard to set up and did you make any money. I would just like to supplement my income with maybe a few hundred dollars a week extra. Am I being unrealistic to expect that much?

As a gay man, would you be able to stand sharing a place with a hot straight guy?
Would you be able to put aside your attraction to him, or would it drive you crazy?
For example, would you be able to withstand the site of seeing him in his underwear, smelling his manly scent wafting through the air, seeing him get out of the shower naked etc. ?
Or would it be such a constant sexual distraction that it would disrupt you from being able to concentrate on your job, own life etc.?

Yas, the new season starts next week. I can't wait! Too bad Kelly Price left the show. She brought so much fuckery to season one that her drama will be deeply missed.
But we still got Lil' Mo on the show, the breakout star, so it should be a good season.

With the first Saturn return, a person leaves youth behind and enters adulthood. With the second return, maturity. And with the third and usually final return, a person enters wise old age. These periods are estimated to occur at roughly the ages of 28-31, 56-60 and 84-90. A fourth return occurs for only a few people, at age 114-118.
I am in the first stage right now. People keep telling me that the growing pains are caused by saturn returns.
Is this true for anyone here? Is it the planets or just a natural progression?

White House adviser had to walk back the oft-repeated myth that women make 77 cents on the dollar that men make after being questioned about the figure during a conference call Monday.
While detailing executive actions President Obama plans to take Tuesday regarding equal pay for women, Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said very defiantly that despite women contributing 44 percent of their household incomes, they continue to make less than men. Obama has declared Tuesday "Equal Pay Day" to highlight his administration's focus on that issue.
“They’re stuck at 77 cents on the dollar, and that gender wage gap is seen very persistently across the income distribution, within occupations, across occupations, and we see it when men and women are working side by side doing identical work.”
That sounds awfully specific. Stevenson certainly sounds like she’s saying men and women doing the exact same job are earning very different pay.
Myth debunked. Women, we are oppressed. I take back everything I wrote about the 77-cent claim being a myth.
Except, as soon as Stevenson was actually questioned about the statistic by McClatchy reporter Lindsay Wise, the White House adviser crumbled, admitting her earlier comments were inaccurate.
“If I said 77 cents was equal pay for equal work, then I completely misspoke,” Stevenson said. “So let me just apologize and say that I certainly wouldn’t have meant to say that.”
Oh, I’m sorry, I guess when Stevenson said “we see it when men and women are working side by side doing identical work” — that was an accident?
“Seventy-seven cents captures the annual earnings of full-time, full-year women divided by the annual earnings of full-time, full-year men,” Stevenson clarified. “There are a lot of things that go into that 77-cents figure, there are a lot of things that contribute and no one’s trying to say that it’s all about discrimination, but I don’t think there’s a better figure.”
No one’s trying to blame discrimination? Isn’t that what the entire Paycheck Fairness Act and Equal Pay Day are based on?
And while we're at it, let's not forget that the White House pays women less than men. But that's okay, said White House press secretary Jay Carney, because they still pay "better than the national average."

Anybody else watching this at US pace? It's an amazing French series about various people who've died at various points in time who suddenly reappear with no explanation.
The acting is uniformly wonderful and the young man who plays Simon is exceptionally beautiful.

[bold]*[/bold]Came up with the idea for Gone Girl (she's the original Amazing Amy)
[bold]*[/bold]Wrote Purple Rain for Prince
[bold]*[/bold]Named Apple computer as well as Google, Facebook and Yahoo
[bold]*[/bold]helped Michael Jackson come up with his ranch name Neverland
[bold]*[/bold]Michael Hutchence gave her the nickname Tiger Lily for the Peter Pan character.
[bold]*[/bold]Named Papa John’s Pizza after writing the song Papa Don’t Preach recorded by Madonna
Oh my god, it scares me that this woman walks amongst us. She makes Kellie, "The Muse" look sane!

I cringe every time I hear mention of the United States as The Homeland. That was the way Hitler referred to Germany. How awful some fool, (GWB) administration adopted that tawdry name.
I'm emailing the white house again to protest our use of this dreadful name.

I don't even move myself. I pay someone to do it. But when someone asks you to help them move, that option is off the table unless you want to pay for it yourself.
So I'm stuck having to move someone.
So annoying.

I always loved his music. He had some amazing gospel roots and could hit the bottom notes as well. I still have several of his albums which I was able to get on my computer. The last time I saw him was back in Brooklyn NY at the Odyssey, not too long before his death in 1988.

Jane Lynch to Star in CBS Comedy Pilot ‘Angel From Hell’
March 2, 2015 | 07:30PM PT, Elizabeth Wagmeister
Weeks before “Glee’s” series finale, Jane Lynch has locked down her next television role.
Lynch will star in CBS’ pilot “Angel From Hell,” Variety has learned.
The half-hour comedy centers around an unlikely friendship formed when a woman, Amy (Lynch), claims to be the guardian angel of another woman, Allison (yet to be cast). Lynch’s character is described as larger-than-life, brassy and flamboyant, and when she claims to be a guardian angel, Allison can’t decide if she’s actually an angel or if she’s just plain nuts.
Tad Quill (“Scrubs,” “Samantha Who?”) penned the pilot and will exec produce. Don Scardino (“30 Rock,” “2 Broke Girls”) will serve as director. CBS Television Studios will produce.
Lynch wraps up “Glee” on March 20 with its two-hour finale event.

I'm watching an old THE LUCY SHOW episode.
In it, Lucy somehow ends up being a show girl in a Danny Thomas musical number.
She can't keep up with the pro dancers and keeps bumping into Thomas.
Hilarity ensues. It's in color and looks beautiful and Lucy looks great.
But I could never really get into the post-I LOVE LUCY shows for one simple reason. There was no payoff to Lucy's shenanigan's because there was no fallout with Ricky.
Sure, Mr. Mooney would yell at her, but the stakes were with Ricky.
I wonder how the shows were received at the time.

Add Jeremy Renner to the rash of holiday season break-ups -- his wife wants out of their marriage after just 10 months.
According to docs filed earlier this month, Renner's wife Sonni Pacheco is seeking the split over irreconcilable differences -- but get this ... she's demanding he return her stolen passport, birth certificate and SS card.
The couple just copped to their secret marriage back in September ... and every indication is the break-up will be nasty.
In her divorce docs ... Pacheco says they have a prenup, but adds it should be torn up because it was based on fraud. There's no further detail about what she means by "fraud."
Pacheco wants the moon ... she's asking for spousal support and physical custody of their 1-year-old daughter, Ava Berlin. She's also looking to use the Range Rover until the smoke clears, and for Renner to pony up her rent and moving expenses.

Alright bitches. This shit train starts Tuesay, April 7th. Who's ready to watch this train wreck? The trailer looks tame but passable. However the last time a NY season premiered in April... It was season 4- and we know how that ended.

I am way late to the game on this one. I am going to be vague as I do not want to spoil the show for anyone...
I am into the 8th episode of the 2nd season..
Random observations
Has Robin Wright ever been better? She is amazing. The best written character on the show. What strikes me the most is what she doesn't say. The character says very little in a sense. It is what that is left unsaid that what makes her so enticing to watch.
The first season was SO MUCH better than this 2nd season. My favorite angle was the balance of the journalists and the politicians. After what happened with Zoey and then her journalist boyfriend, it appears this angle is done?
Peter Russo is by far my favorite male character. What a brilliant job this guy did...
The thing about this show that really pissed me off is that it tricked me.
Once Francis did what he did to Peter, the show veered into pure soap opera. Then the first episode of the 2nd season with Zoey? It was brilliant and shocking, but pure soap opera..
I had no idea until late in the first season what a loon Kevin Spacey's character is.
The show is almost campy.. still enjoyable, but its basically trashy fun.

What happened to her face? She's only 2 yrs older than me and most of my friends and none of us look half as bad as she does. You would think with her money she'd be able to take better care of her skin
_______________________
She may still have a figure which could be the envy of women decades younger, but sadly for Melanie Griffith there is only so much diet and exercise can do to stave of signs of aging.
The 54-year-old actress looked somewhat odd as she arrived at the Best In Drag Show to raise money for AIDS treatment in Los Angeles.
Melanie admitted in the past to collegen injections an has been thought to have had a face lift.
The star showed off her still-slender figure in fitted black trousers teamed with a youthful white shirt and leather jacket.
The overall effect was somewhat disjointed however, as the attire made a marked contrast to her face, which looked like it was wearing the effects of both her advancing years and a face lift.

Does anyone else think that Ryan Reynolds seems gay? I mentioned this to my family and they were completely shocked. They can't believe that a macho stud like him could be gay. It never even occured to me that he might be straight.

I know there is a thread on this, but this is a better subject title.
After being fired herself, Erica Hill went around shopping for a new job at the various networks.
She found an opening at Weekend Today when Amy Robach left for ABC.
But the Saturday shift wasn't enough for her. She wanted Saturday AND Sunday (which was being held by Jenna Wolfe)
So Jenna got demoted to newsreader on weekends, and now Erica Hill will be weekend co-host on both Saturday AND Sunday.
Sound fair?

The fat cats in Washington D.C. are living the high life, and they are doing it at your expense. Over the past decade, there has been one area of the country which has experienced a massive economic boom. Thanks to wildly out of control government spending, the Washington D.C. region is absolutely swimming in cash. In fact, at this point the state of Maryland has the most millionaires per capita in the entire nation and it isn’t even close. If you have never lived there, it is hard to describe what the D.C. area is like.
Every weekday morning, hordes of lawyers, lobbyists and government bureaucrats descend upon D.C. from the surrounding suburbs. And at the end of the day, the process goes in reverse. Everyone is just trying to get their piece of the pie, and it is a pie that just keeps on growing as government salaries, government contracts and government giveaways just get larger and larger. Of course our founders never intended for this to happen. They wanted a very small and simple federal government. Sadly, today we have the most bloated central government in the history of the planet and it gets worse with each passing year.
If you were to ask most Americans, they would tell you that the wealthiest Americans probably live in cities such as New York or San Francisco. But thanks to the Obama administration (and before that the Bush and Clinton administrations), the state of Maryland is packed with millionaires. In particular, the Maryland suburbs immediately surrounding D.C. are absolutely overflowing with government fat cats that make a living at our expense. Every weekday morning, huge numbers of them leave their mini-mansions in places such as Potomac and Rockville and drive their luxury vehicles to work in the city. As the Washington Post has detailed, at this point approximately 8 percent of all households in the entire state of Maryland contain millionaires, and the rest of the area is not doing too shabby either…
In Maryland, nearly 8 out of every 100 households in 2014 had assets topping $1 million, giving the state more millionaires per capita than any other in the country, according to a new report from Phoenix Marketing International.
The rest of the Beltway isn’t lacking in millionaires either: The District and Virginia ranked in the top 10 among those with the highest number of millionaire households per capita in 2014. In Virginia, which was No. 6 on the list, 6.76 percent of the state’s 3.17 million households are millionaires. And in the District, which rounds out the top 10, 6.25 percent of its more than 292,000 households are millionaires.
And while not too many of them are millionaires, your average federal workers that toil in D.C. are doing quite well too.
Once upon a time, it was considered to be a “sacrifice” to go into “government service”.
Not anymore.
If you can believe it, approximately 17,000 federal employees made more than $200,000 last year.
Overall, compensation for federal employees comes to a grand total of close to half a trillion dollars every 12 months.
In fact, there are tens of thousands of federal employees that make more than the governors of their own states do.
Does that seem right to you?
If you want to live “the American Dream” these days, the Washington area is the place to go. Just check out the following description of the region from the Washington Post…
Washingtonians now enjoy the highest median household income of any metropolitan area in the country, and five of the top 10 jurisdictions in America — Loudoun, Howard and Fairfax counties, and Falls Church and Fairfax City — are here, census data shows.
The signs of that wealth are on display all over, from the string of luxury boutiques such as Gucci and Tory Burch opening at Tysons Galleria to the $15 cocktails served over artisanal ice at the W Hotel in the District to the ever-larger houses rising off River Road in Potomac.
(Cont inside)

This morning, I was reading about recently released Cuban spy Gerardo Hernandez and politics aside, he is extremely hot. He reminds me of a slightly older more kinky looking version of Timothy Olyphant.
I also read that while he was still prison, he was allowed to send some of his sperm back to Cuba to father a child with his wife. I wish I had been there to help him fill the cup. Any thoughts on the curb appeal of my new lustee?
And, why are all of the cute guys- taken!?

Now if you're gay or lesbian, I know what you're going to tell me: She doesn't like gays. What she has said when pressured is that she doesn't believe being gay is "God's best." Obviously, I strongly disagree with that statement. I think deep in her heart, she probably does too, but she repeats that same phrase as Joel Osteen out of fear that the really hardcore Christian right would attack her. They don't much like her as it is because plenty of people still don't think it's right that a woman would be preaching. Many people also take issue with the fact she didn't attend formal seminary school. Personally, I admire that she is a woman preaching in a man's world, and that she learned her lessons by living a hard life.
The bottom line is that I don't have agree with everything someone says to find value in the rest of what they say. Ninety-nine percent of the time, Joyce is talking about problems and challenge I really can identify with. What she says has, without any doubt, been an incredible blessing in my life. And while I tithe to my very progressive and accepting church, I also give money to Joyce Meyer Ministries every month because I believe in what she is doing with her message and with her work in third-world countries.
Picture of the gay Body Builder @ link

To Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, peace between the US and Iran is an existential threat. By now, it should be clear to all: It's not an Iranian nuclear bomb he fears, but a US-Iran deal.
In a tweet earlier this morning, the Prime Minister said as much: "We are strongly opposed to the agreement being formulated between the world powers and Iran that could endanger Israel's very existence."
So we have gone from Netanyahu declaring an Iranian bomb an existential threat to Israel, to a deal between the world powers and Iran an existential threat.
And it's not the specifics of the deal that is the problem, but the very notion of a deal involving the US and Iran. In fact, his Minister of Defense declared that any deal would be a threat.
Netanyahu's hypocrisy is astounding. As I describe in A Single Roll of the Dice -- Obama's Diplomacy with Iran, Netanyahu has always opposed diplomacy with Iran. Not because he feared it would fail, but precisely because he feared it would work.
Fuck this guy.
Do the majority of Israelis prefer to be aggressive and warlike in general? I don't follow politics with Israel closely but it seems like they can't feel "safe" unless they maintain an aggressive stance at all times against any Arab or Arab affiliated country.
Do they really believe that the world (US) would let them be attacked? At this point I don't trust them they are too comfortable with the idea of war.

‘Mommy blogger’ slowly poisoned son to death to drive up blog traffic, cops say
The Raw Story / by David Ferguson
A 26-year-old “mommy blogger” was arrested Tuesday and charged with murdering her 5-year-old son by poisoning him with salt.
According to the Washington Post, blogger Lacey Spears wove an intricate web of lies about herself and her son on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and may have killed the boy to satisfy her need for attention and the support of strangers.
The Scottsville, Kentucky woman was indicted in White Plains, New York on second-degree charges of depraved murder and manslaughter in the Jan. 23 death of Garnett Paul Spears. Lacey Spears appeared in court on Tuesday, said ABC News, sitting with her head down as her attorney entered a not guilty plea.
The Post said that Garnett Spears’ life was short and fraught with illness. His medical records show persistent ear infections, unexplained fevers, seizures and digestive ailments. His mother detailed the boy’s health struggles on social media and fabricated an elaborate backstory regarding his paternity.
Garnett, she said, was the son of a police officer named Blake who was killed in a tragic car accident. The Daily Mail claimed that the boy’s father was actually a garage door installer named Chris Hill who lives in Georgia.
In January, the boy was admitted to Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, New York, when doctors noted that his sodium levels were shooting up in a way that was “metabolically impossible” for his body to do on its own. Assistant District Attorney Doreen Lloyd said in court on Tuesday that Lacey Spears would wait for hospital personnel to leave, then inject high doses of sodium into the Garnett’s gastric feeding tube.
“This mother was intentionally feeding her son salt in toxic levels,” said Lloyd. “This defendant researched, planned and executed her crime against her own son in a wanton and depraved manner.”
Less than a week after his hospitalization, Garnett Spears died of acute sodium poisoning. Hospital personnel found him unconscious with dilated pupils and no sign of brain activity.
A neighbor told police that Lacey Spears contacted her from the hospital on the day of the boy’s death. Lacey reportedly asked for help disposing of a fluid bag of the type used with the child’s feeding tube. Police tested the bag and found that it contained high amounts of salt.
If convicted in the boy’s death, Lacey Spears could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

From President Obama's speech today, see below. This is why it's important to vote Democratic in the November election. We need more representatives who will fight for the working man and woman, to keep these gains from being reversed and to move forward with more gains.
When President Obama was elected, businesses where laying off 800,000 people a month; today, they are hiring 200,000 people a month.
The unemployment rate has dropped from 10.9% in 2009 to 6.1% today.
Over the last 4.5 years, businesses have created 10 million new jobs. This is the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our nation's history.
There are more job openings now than anytime since 2001.
During the Obama Administration, the US has put more people back to work than in Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy COMBINED.
Of course, there are people who are still struggling, that is why we need to vote Democratic in all offices this November, to elect people who will fight for the working man and woman. We can't afford to have these gains reversed.

Suppose the United States decides to retire all the debt held offshore. It amounted to $6,112,000,000,000 at the end of last year. We just print the money and send it to wherever the interest checks are presently going. We can do this.
I hold that the effect will be far less severe in the United States than in other countries. Reason being, the subsequent precipitous decline in the Dollar will wipe out foreign rich people who have their loot in $$$$'s.
What else will happen, guru's? I think there will be little or no inflation here because the government can just continue to report there isn't any.

I think it's so strange when people act like torture and lies by the government is some new thing.
FDR knew that Japan was going to bomb Pearl Harbor, but kept it secret so he had an excuse to enter WW2.
He allowed thousands of innocent men and women to die so he could convince the "average person" to enter WW2.
Fuck him, and the people that love his bullshit. You are the same moronic thug assholes that allowed Bush to invade and bomb the Middle East based on bullshit.

Russian Troops Seize Gas Plant Beyond Crimean Border, Ukraine Says
Scores of Russian troops that landed by helicopter seized a gas plant just beyond the regional border of Crimea on Saturday, the Ukrainian government said. The action was Russia’s most provocative since its forces took over Crimea two weeks ago.
The latest troop advance came one day before Crimea was set to vote on whether to secede from Ukraine, and it was testing Ukrainian leaders’ resolve to engage Russia’s much more powerful military if it moved beyond Crimea.
By late afternoon, Ukrainian troops were stationed outside the gas plant, which is on a slender sand bar to the east of the Crimean Peninsula, according to Unian, a Ukrainian news service, which quoted the local police. The news agency did not say if shots were fired.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry issued a statement saying that the nation reserved the right to use all necessary measures to stop what it called a “military invasion by Russia.”

[quote] Would someone consider starting a thread about this?
On the field, the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders have had as bitter a rivalry as any in the NFL but in a sense, they’re now partners.
The teams will officially announce Friday that, while they work on stadium deals in their current cities, they will jointly pursue a shared, $1.7-billion NFL stadium in Carson as an alternative.

Us Weekly – 52 minutes ago
No longer wanting to be Mrs. McDreamy! Patrick Dempsey and his wife Jillian Fink have called it quits on their 15-year marriage, a rep for the couple confirms to Us Weekly.
"It is with careful consideration and mutual respect that we have decided to end our marriage," the couple said in a joint statement to Us. "Our primary concern remains the wellbeing of our children, and we ask with profound gratitude that you respect our family's privacy at this very sensitive time."
According to TMZ, Fink was first to file for divorce from the Grey’s Anatomy actor.
According to the site, Fink filed citing irreconcilable differences and is seeking joint custody of their daughter Tallulah Fyfe, 12, and their 7-year-old twins Sullivan Patrick and Darby Galen. Fink also reportedly wants spousal and child support.
The couple, who wed in 1999, reportedly do not have a prenup and Dempsey is estimated to be worth $40 million.
Dempsey was previously married to Rocky Parker from 1987 to 1994.

For instance, you were on a TV show for five seasons and the show is cancelled. You can't live off of savings forever. So what do you do until the next gig? This is based on that actress who can't afford her rent in NYC anymore.

This is from last year, but I don't remember seeing it here. Terri's family appears to be a pack of grifters, no different than sleazy televangelists.
[quote]In most recent IRS report that the Foundation filed for 2008, it shows the foundation took in $91,568 and paid Terri's dad Robert Schindler Sr., her brother Robert Jr. and her sister Suzanne Vitadamo $59,275, or 64% of the money they raised.
[quote]Charity Navigator a respected Charity Rating organization says any charity spending more than 30 percent on salaries gets a zero rating. The foundation doesn't come close. In the meantime, since the report was filed, the salaries have increased to $80,000 a year, but the Foundation says one salary is in arrears causing some family members to work without pay. Also since the IRS report was filed and Terri Schiavo's father died.
[quote]Schindler didn't tell us anything, including how the organization spent $34,000s more than it collected in 2008; about the money it raised from a concert with country stars Randy Travis and Colin Ray, why as it told the IRS, the Foundation doesn't have a conflict of interest policy; and why it is using the name Terri Schiavo. A court document gives Michael Schiavo intangible rights to his wife's name.
After reading the article and looking up the foundation's site, I'm still not sure what the foundation's actual purpose is except to take in money.

My partner is probably going to need new glasses with a new prescription including progressive lenses and preferably transitions shading. We're thinking lenses will be at least $615 from his doctor.
What are your experiences with the online glasses sites like 39dollar glasses. Are the savings worth it? Problems with the lens spacing or quality?
Thanks.

The average young woman of the Fifties had one supreme goal in life: to land herself a decent husband.
He didn’t have to be devastatingly good-looking or rich.
He just had to earn enough money so that she could stay at home, raise the children and never have to work for a living again.
The alternative? Being labelled a spinster or old maid, and probably slaving for a lifetime in a low-paid and low-status job.
From our vantage point in the 21st century, the Fifties often seems bathed in a rosy nostalgic glow.
It was, after all, an era of stay-at-home mums and strong family values — exemplified by images of radiant housewives in flattering frocks, posing in front of a batch of freshly baked fairy cakes.
But what was it really like to be a woman in this critical post-war decade? What did she want — and what was she thinking?
--------------------
From "Perfect Wives In Ideal Homes: The Story Of Women In The 1950s," by Virginia Nicholson

We're currently binge-watching this series. Totally hooked (we're in the middle of Season 2). Maybe I missed it, but don't recall it being mentioned much, though it ran for 5 seasons. Two of the actors playing Noah Wiley's sons--Drew Roy and Connor Jessup--are hot as hell (imo). Anyone else a fan?

Last year I finally bought a pair of prescription glasses with progressive lenses that I bought from my local JC Penneys optical center. The service and selection at Penneys were okay, but I never seemed to be able to get used to the glasses and I''m not sure if the fit was ever done correctly. The glasses cost around $400.00. \
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A few days ago I found that my new puppy had chewed the frames and lenses, and that they were out of warranty. Instead of JC Penney, I went to an independent optician, just to see what they had to offer. I found that the optician had more "high end" frames, and that the cost of frames lenses would be $700.00. \
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Does this cost sound reasonable? Any advantage to buying from a chain (Eyeglass Express, Lenscrafters) vs an independent optician? Have any of you had difficulties adjusting to progressive lenses?

Have any DLers had good luck with buying glasses through the mail?\
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Which websites would you suggest I visit?\
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I dropped by the optical department at my local Sam''s Club and they want about $250 for new lenses and reusing my current wire frames. \
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I think this is outrageous for just lenses and no frames. Granted, I do have invisible line bifocals, but still. \
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I am considering going to the old-fashioned visible line bifocals as a money-saving ploy.\
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What about it -- have any DLers had good luck with a particular on-line optical dispensary?\
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Please share what you know.\
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TIA

De Blasio joins LGBT St Patrick's Day marchers in braving New York City snow
- Mayor tells St Pat’s for All in Queens: ‘That is what pride is all about’
- Main city march wants to allow one gay group under banner this year
Associated Press in New York, Sunday 1 March 2015 16.45 EST
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio marched in the snow on Sunday, with hundreds of participants at a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-friendly St Patrick’s Day parade.
He told the gathering a society for all is a society that embraces everyone.
The parade, in Queens, is called St Pat’s for All. It’s an alternative to the city’s centuries-old St Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan, which for years has excluded gay groups.
Last year de Blasio skipped the Manhattan parade because it wasn’t inclusive. Organisers said last year they would welcome one gay contingent under its own banner this year, prompting further protests.
Under yet more snowfall in what has been a brutal winter, De Blasio called this year’s St Pat’s for All crowd a hardy troupe, and said: “That is what pride is all about – pride in the fact that in New York City, you can be whoever you are.”

A great many narratives invoking Greece are being tossed around, but only one really encapsulates the unvarnished truth: the Oligarchs blew it. The oligarchs in both Greece and the European Union/ECB had the opportunity a few years ago to trade some of their outsized wealth and political power for stability and sustainable expansion.
Instead, they chose to not just cling to every shred of their outsized wealth and power but to actively increase it. Their greed and hubris has now put their entire system of parasitic wealth extraction at risk of collapse. Their political stranglehold on power has been weakened, and there's no going back: they blew it, and now it's too late. The debt-serfs have finally had enough.
If you enter Greece in the custom search box on this site, six pages of blog entries come up. I have addressed the situation in Greece many times; this summarizes my conclusion:
Greece, Please Do The Right Thing: Default Now (June 1, 2011)
Thankfully, many in Greece have reached the same conclusion, for the same reasons:
Greece's New FinMin Warns "We Are Going To Destroy The Greek Oligarchy System"
The basic problem is that Greece Is a Kleptocracy (June 28, 2011). Greece has shown the world how oligarchies can expand their wealth and power even as their populace slides deeper into poverty. A recent article, Misrule of the Few: How the Oligarchs Ruined Greece, lays out the key dynamics.
Writer Pavlos Eleftheriadis pulls no punches:
"Greece has failed to address (rising wealth/income inequality) because the country’s elites have a vested interest in keeping things as they are. Since the early 1990s, a handful of wealthy families -- an oligarchy in all but name -- has dominated Greek politics. These elites have preserved their positions through control of the media and through old-fashioned favoritism, sharing the spoils of power with the country’s politicians. Greek legislators, in turn, have held on to power by rewarding a small number of professional associations and public-sector unions that support the status quo. Even as European lenders have put the country’s finances under a microscope, this arrangement has held."
The vested interests have obscured the cold reality of rising inequality by focusing obsessively on "growth" as the fix-all to inequality.
But this is exactly backward. As Eleftheriadis observes:
"The fundamental problem facing Greece is not slow economic growth but political inequality. To the benefit of a favored few, cumbersome regulations and dysfunctional institutions remain largely unchanged, even as the country’s infrastructure crumbles, poverty increases, and corruption persists. Greek society also faces new dangers. Overall unemployment stands at 27 percent, and youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent, providing an ideal recruiting ground for extremist groups on both the left and the right. Meanwhile, the oligarchs are still profiting at the expense of the country -- and the rest of Europe."
All the blather about "growth" is just propaganda to misdirect our attention from the real problem: the total domination of governance and finance by a class of vested interests and mega-wealthy cartels/oligarchies.
The solution is straightforward: default on all debt by no longer making interest payments. There is no way Greece can pay back the $240 billion of current debt, and sooner the delusion that this can be renegotiated to preserve the oligarchy is smashed, the better.
As for the big threat of kicking Greece out of the euro currency--since most Greeks are already impoverished, how can they get any poorer? The reality is poor countries prosper by making their goods and services cheaper via currency devaluations, and by paying a healthy rate of interest on capital so capital is attracted and invested productively, as high interest rates make speculative, marginal gambles soberingly risky.
The only people with enough wealth left to worry about a return to a sovereign currency are the wealthy who own the assets and who depend on handouts from the E.U.
As the old saying has it, you can't get blood from a turnip. The impoverished face little downside from leaving the stranglehold of the euro, and only upside from a return to a sovereign currency controlled by the Greeks rather than the E.U. or the European Central Bank (ECB).
The threat of expelling Greece from the euro is hollow. A return to a sovereign currency puts the responsibility for prudent management of government expenditures and debt back in the hands of the Greek people and the leaders they elect. Why is that something terrible?
If the new leadership of Greece pursues policies of fiscal prudence, high interest rates, zero-tolerance for corruption and freeing up the Greek economy to encourage small-scale enterprise, any decline in Greece's sovereign currency will be brief. If they pursue meet the new boss, same as the old boss policies, then the Greek people will remain shackled in poverty.
We have to remember that the lenders who entrusted capital to marginal borrowers took the risk and therefore have to absorb the losses. In this case, the irresponsible lenders include sovereign nations that acted to protect their own oligarchies.
Why? Once one oligarchy falls, it will threaten to topple a long line of oligarch dominoes.

Harry Styles isn’t bisexual. Or, at least, he doesn’t think he’s bisexual.
The 19-year-old appears on the cover of the September 2013 issue of British GQ, one of five covers featuring the boys of pop group One Direction. When speaking with the magazine, Styles was asked about claims he is bisexual. Questions about the teen singer’s relationship with Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw have been circulating the rumor mill for months.
Styles insisted to GQ that he and Grimshaw aren’t dating and are just friends.
"Bisexual? Me? I don’t think so," Stiles said. “I’m pretty sure I’m not."
The rumors do sometimes bother the British crooner, who used to date country sweetheart Taylor Swift and has most recently been linked to model Kara Rose Marshall.
"Some of them are funny," he told GQ of the rumors. “Some of them are ridiculous. Some of them are annoying. I don’t want to be one of those people that complains about the rumours. I never like it when a celebrity goes on Twitter and says, ‘This isn’t true!’ It is what it is; I tend not to do that. The only time it gets really annoying is that if you get into a relationship and you get into a place where you really like someone and then things are being written in the papers that affect them and how they see you. Then it can get annoying."
Grimshaw has previously defended his relationship with Styles, saying there is nothing “weird" about it.
"It seems totally normal to me: a DJ being mates with a pop star," he told Now magazine back in April. “It’s not like he’s some weirdo who can’t talk. He’s really funny. When anyone meets him, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s really nice and interesting.’ And they immediately understand."
Although he might not be bisexual, Styles has extended some support to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. When anti-gay, quasi-religious group Westboro Baptist Church protested outside a July 19 One Direction concert in Kansas City, Mo., Styles tweeted a simple message in retort, saying he believes in equal rights and that God loves all.
Read One Direction’s full interview in the September 2013 issue of British GQ, on newsstands Aug. 1.

I can't blame her for not wanting to admit she likes cunt. Who would want such a stigma attached to them? But it's not like everyone doesn't already know. Especially after her contract marriage fell apart because her dumb beard/friend was careless. She's almost 50 years old. There is no reason to continue to lie.

The audio recording, incorporated into a video with Russian subtitles and posted on YouTube Tuesday, appears to be a conversation between the top U.S. diplomat for Europe, Victoria Nuland, and the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, discussing how to resolve the ongoing standoff between the Ukraine government and protesters camped out in the streets.
[bold]At one point, the voice apparently belonging to Nuland suggests that United Nations efforts should take precedence over the E.U. position, adding, “f–k the E.U.”[/bold]

I'm sure very few of you are aware of what happened Wednesday night- the Swiss National (aka Central) Bank reassured people on Monday that it would keep buying euro-bonds to keep the 1EUR TO 1.2CHF (Swiss Franc) peg in place, and then suddenly removed that "floor" on Wed night, which caused the euro to drop from 1.20 per franc to less than .90 euro to franc in milliseconds.
Tens (hundreds) of billions were lost in a moment. Big FX traders are now bankrupt. The ripples keep spreading- Goldman Sucks lost billions in "carry trade" alone.
(Carry trade- borrowing money in an artificially weak currency- the JPY (yen) is another favorite- and buying equity/currency in an artificially strong currency and pocketing the arbitrage)
These ripples keep spreading, and Greece is the next target. Not directly, but who knows--- the signs are obvious.

Today, lots of people woke up in shock and horror to what happened in Cyprus: a forced capital reallocation mandated by political elites under the guise of an "equity investment" in insolvent banks, which is really code for a "coercive, mandatory wealth tax." If less concerned about political correctness, one could say that what just happened was daylight robbery from savers to banks and the status quo. These same people may be even more shocked to learn that today's Cypriot "resolution" is merely the first of many such coercive interventions into personal wealth, first in Europe, and then everywhere else.
Bank Runs, a scared populace- didn't they fix this?
This will be another disaster for the euro- it needs to die.
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For the benefit of those people, we wish to point them to our article from September 2011, "The "Muddle Through" Has Failed: BCG Says "There May Be Only Painful Ways Out Of The Crisis", which predicted and explained all of this and much more. What else did the September BCG study conclude? Simply that such mandatory, coercive wealth tax is merely the beginning for a world in which there was some $21 trillion in excess debt as of 2009, a number which has since ballooned to over $30 trillion. And with inflation woefully late in appearing and "inflating away" said debt overhang, Europe first is finally moving to Plan B, and is using Cyrprus as its Guniea Pig.

The US built a nuclear bomb in about 3 or 4 years while fighting two of the most powerful countries on Earth, 70 years ago. Today, even North Korea, India and Pakistan managed to build one. How is it the Iranians are having so much trouble building one now?
Is it all fiction?
Should we just obliterate them?

Shades of Snowpiercer.
I know global warming gets all the attention, but global cooling would be far worse.
We are living in an interglacial era. Every time the world gets closer to our current peak, it quickly plunges into another ice age. These interglacial periods appear to have some correlation with sunspot activity. The latest news on sunspot activity is similar to other cold spells.
Although sunspot data only goes back a few hundred years, the "mini-ice age" from 1250-1850 leads to this detail-
[quote]…if history is a guide, it is safe to say that weak solar activity for a prolonged period of time can have a negative impact on global temperatures in the troposphere which is the bottom-most layer of Earth’s atmosphere - and where we all live. There have been two notable historical periods with decades-long episodes of low solar activity. The first period is known as the “Maunder Minimum”, named after the solar astronomer Edward Maunder, and it lasted from around 1645 to 1715. The second one is referred to as the “Dalton Minimum”, named for the English meteorologist John Dalton, and it lasted from about 1790 to 1830. Both of these historical periods coincided with below-normal global temperatures in an era now referred to by many as the “Little Ice Age”. In addition, research studies in just the past couple of decades have found a complicated relationship between solar activity, cosmic rays, and clouds on Earth. This research suggests that in times of low solar activity where solar winds are typically weak; more cosmic rays reach the Earth’s atmosphere which, in turn, has been found to lead to an increase in certain types of clouds that can act to cool the Earth.
Here is the link that got me thinking. Notice how the planet is at the peak temperature. Hundreds of thousands of years of data, all showing that we are on the cusp of a new ice age.

Today I shopped in five stores for: filing and stationary, toiletries, vitamins and supplements and a few groceries.
Each time, the person who served me became progressively more gay. You expect one, or maybe two shop bottoms as you go about your errands on a major city, but four in one morning?
The guy in the department store where I got some toiletries was straight acting until the very end of the transaction, then he instructed me to ''enjoy your products and have a LOVELY day!'' By the time I reached the counter of the health food store the assistant almost set my face ablaze with the force of his flames. i guess he picks up the body builders who drop in for those protein powder things.
We are legion, in retail.

I'm a big fan of David Lynch's films. How would you guys rank his work? This is my ranking, from greatest to worst.
Great:
Mulholland Drive,
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,
The Straight Story,
Eraserhead,
Blue Velvet
Very Good:
Lost Highway
OK:
Inland Empire (I still don't understand what the fuck I watched),
Wild At Heart,
The Elephant Man
Poor:
Dune

Like a sudden festering outbreak of genital warts, the Benham brothers are rearing their matching heads again.
While speaking at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville last week, the twin homophobes claimed that they healed an unruly gay man of his homosexual desires… by offering him tickets to a Cubs game.
“We had so many people from the gay community reaching out to us and one man in particular from the city of Chicago reached out,” David Benham said during a panel discussion about religious liberty.
“He said things to me that made me lose my appetite. But I simply responded in love.”
“After a little conversation back and forth, I found out he loved baseball … and I got him tickets to a Cubs game,” Benham continued. “He shot me a Facebook post and said, ‘I was not expecting that — and I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I’ve chosen to walk away from my lifestyle.’”
Isn’t that great?
The crowd certainly thought so. They responded by applauding the twins, who then proceeded to blabber on about religious freedom and their fear that so many Americans have begun to “slowly turn our back on God,” which is why it is up to them to bravely stand up and defend the Christian faith.
“Love filled our heart,” Benham said. “We had absolutely no hatred.”
Except when it comes to gay people.
“The right to speak freely means jack squat if we don’t have the courage to speak boldly!” Jason Benham added.

Al-Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui has claimed members of the Saudi royal family helped fund the 9/11 attacks.
Moussaoui, imprisoned in Colorado for his role in the attacks, gave testimony in October to lawyers for 9/11 victims suing the country.
His statement came to light when it was filed in court this week in response to a Saudi bid to drop the lawsuit.
Saudi Arabia has rejected the accusation from a "deranged criminal" with no credibility.
They have made several attempts for the lawsuit to be dropped.
In a rare interview for an inmate at a high security "supermax" prison, Moussaoui said "extremely famous" Saudi officials, including Prince Turki al-Faisal Al Saud, a former Saudi intelligence chief, were funding al-Qaeda from the late 1990s.
He also claimed to have met a Saudi official in Afghanistan who worked in the US embassy.
The two men were later supposed to travel to Washington to find a location "suitable to launch a stinger [missile] attack" on Air Force One, Moussaoui said.
His claims, made under oath, have not been verified.
Moussaoui was arrested weeks before the 9/11 attacks on immigrations charges and was in prison at the time of the attacks. He had taken flying lessons in Minnesota and had been wired money by an al-Qaeda affiliate.
In court at his sentencing, Moussaoui said he had been part of a grandiose plot to fly a Boeing 747 into the White House.
But testimony from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - also in US custody - was used by Moussaoui's defence lawyers to undercut his claims during trial.
Families of 9/11 victims allege that Saudi Arabia and a government-affiliated charity knowingly provided funding and other material support to al-Qaeda that helped it carry out the attacks.
Plaintiffs include families of the nearly 3,000 people killed, as well as insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners and businesses.

February 22, 2015 ● by Dan Avery
Put Gaga in Funny Girl! Put Gaga in Gypsy! Put Gaga in Hedwig!
Viewers of the 2015 Academy Awards were left speechless by Lady Gaga, whose performance of a medley from The Sound of Music honored the film’s 50th anniversary and had us all choked up. Us and Julie Andrews, who hugged and thanked Gaga for the beautiful performance and introduced the nominees for Best Score. If this angelic performance and her duets album with Tony Bennett is a sign of Gaga’s latest incarnation, we’re all for it.

Young Republicans know the GOP has an Old White Man problem. It starts with plain math. Despite America's quickly growing minority population, 89 percent of Republicans are white. The party stumbles through clunky attempts to reach young voters via social media. And the mainstream GOP is at odds even with the few millennials it has managed to snag. A 2014 Pew Research Center survey found that millennials identifying as Republican or Republican-leaning often expressed more liberal values than older conservatives. For example, 64 percent of conservative millennials agree that homosexuality should be accepted by society, whereas only 45 percent of their baby-boomer counterparts agreed.
Still, half of all millennials don’t affiliate with either major political party. The good news for Republicans is, that leaves plenty of potential hearts and minds to win.
Chasing that hope, and cognizant that millennials will outnumber boomers by the next election, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) hosted a new series of sessions and lectures this year—many of them in a TED Talk-like format—that revolved around activism, social media, and reaching younger voters. This “Activism Bootcamp” featured a number of younger speakers touted as conservative “millennial spokespersons.” Despite impressive credentials and an obvious drive to reach their peers, are these whippersnapper conservatives enough to ensure the GOP lasts past 2016?
"Faux-intellectuals are the dingbats pontificating about gender privilege."
“I think many millennials are just turned off with politics in general,” said Aubrey Blankenship of American Majority, a nonprofit organization that supports conservative activists and candidates. “However, they are turned on by many other good things, like social causes.” Blankenship said once conservatives show millennials how the party can work for them, millennials might realize that their views are actually more conservative than they think. “That same sentiment [for social causes] is a political sentiment, but millennials don’t see that,” she said.
Ron Meyer Jr., president of Springboard Media Strategies, agreed that Republicans need to do more for young voters. He offered Obama’s free community college plan as an example of how Democrats make practical appeals to an indebted generation. “We don’t combat those sort of policies with ideas of our own,” he said.
However one millennial rep, Caleb Boham, editor-in-chief of Campus Reform and creator of The Caleb Bonham Show, said through emails that he thought connecting with millennials is more about overcoming false media stereotypes to better appeal to the millennial generation. “We are charitable (even more than liberals), loving, an overall happy group of people who just want the government to remain faithful to its proper role and not push us around,” he said.

Randy Johnson (97.3%) was a five-time Cy Young Award winner. Pedro Martinez (91.1%) won three Cys and led MLB in ERA five times. John Smoltz (82.9%) amassed 213 wins to go with 154 saves. Craig Biggio (82.7%) racked up 3,060 hits while playing three positions up the middle. Together, they make up the Hall of Fame's Class of 2015.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Out of all the homophobic actors out there--and I’m sure their numbers are legion--Jensen Ackles irritates me the most. I don’t understand the gay men who worship him. He’s undeniably good looking but he can’t open his mouth without making a homophobic comment. What kills me is that gays everywhere take up for him just because of his looks. “Oh, he didn’t mean it that way;” or “Oh, it was just a joke;” or “Oh, you’re taking his comments too literally;” bullshit like that.
Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me??? I’m sorry but affecting a lispy high-pitched voice while ineffectually slapping at someone OVER AND OVER AND OVER, TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME, IN EVERY POSSIBLE CONTRIVED SITUATION isn’t funny. It isn’t a joke. And, similarly, using the word “gay” or “pansy” as a derogatory adjective in interviews isn’t okay either. Those things are evidence of a belief, people, an attitude toward gays, and I’m sick of guys lusting over him. I’m 46 and own my own architectural firm, and I have 6 architects working for me. Two of them are gay and about 10 years younger than me, and I had listen to them all goddam night go on about this guy. Even on DataLounge his name pops up constantly. It’s like a bunch of freakin’ yeshiva boys jonesin’ to blow motherfuckin’ Hitler.
I don’t know what Ackles makes per episode, but word is that he clears 40k to 50k for an appearance at a “Supernatural” convention. So far this year he’s done twelve. On top of that, once he’s there he charges for meet-and-greets and photo ops, and it’s gays who are putting a lot of that money in his pocket. (Unless you’re [i]too[i/] gay. Then there’s no photo because he won’t pose with you.) Gays are also the ones glued to their tv sets each week, boosting his show’s ratings while they queer every gaze between him and his on-screen brother. [i]Idiots.[i/]
This guy doesn’t even have the testicular fortitude of Sabrina the Teenage Witch! He won’t just come out and say what he thinks about gays, gay marriage or even politics because he knows it would hurt his career. In fact, his wife will re-Tweet stuff showing mild LGBT support just to muddy the waters and throw people, most likely Hollywood producers, off their GOP scent. However, the latest is that Stone Park Trust, the same trust that owns his Brentwood property--the same trust for which he’s the trustee--has allegedly made past donations to NOM, Prop 8 and Romney’s campaign, so anyone who thinks Ackles isn’t a Republican is nuts. His wife’s Twitter page practically spells it out, along with their very devout “I love me some Jesus” status. “Jensen’s favorite book is the Bible;” “His favorite actor is Jim Caviezel;” “His favorite time of year is Easter.” Blah, blah, blah.
Man, I got nothing against anyone’s religion or their personal beliefs about gays and lesbians. Everyone, and I mean everyone, is entitled to their own opinions, but that doesn’t mean that I have to buy their product or watch their show. I’m not going to further any actor’s career so they can fight harder against my rights. And I’m sure not going to give someone like Ackles a starring role in my fantasies. I mean, compare his douchebaggery with the incredibly respectful and classy comments George Clooney made about constantly being called gay. Night and day. Night and day.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE HOMOPHOBIA, PEOPLE. STOP LUSTING OVER ASSHOLES.

They always shoot in these massive houses, uh, mansions. Are these their homes? Are these porn directors rich? I mean, can they be making THAT much money from a shitty porn site? Also, if it is their house, do they have special bedrooms for the fuck scenes? I mean, do they actually let the guys fuck on their living room sofa?

1. Which Hollywood actor had a three-way with a woman and another man after a night out at a club — but got so freaked out during the proceedings, he abruptly ran away?
2. Which former Hollywood It girl recently visited a South American country “surrounded by security to keep people away?” Funny thing was, “nobody seemed to care, she was never recognized”…
3. Which Hollywood producer is having serious money problems, and when he finally found a financier to bankroll him, the investor’s family had the money taken back claiming the sugar daddy’s senile?
4. Which Broadway actor has been keeping himself entertained on the way to work by getting attractive ladies’ numbers on subway?

I've never had an interest in Star Trek before (never seen one of the movies or an episode of any of the different series), but recently I started sleeping with a guy who's a big fan of the TV shows. He strongly urged me to start watching and told me I'd be sure to love it if I gave it a chance.
I'm not much of a sci-fi guy, but I thought the X-Files was awesome and like the original three Star Wars movies, plus this guy is really cute so why not?
Well I started watching The Next Generation (Patrick Stewart is genuinely great actor, so it gave me hope that he was in this) and I can't believe how bad it is AND how much I'm liking it.
I've only seen a handful of episodes, but it's a total campfest. Everything is super 80s and it's hard to tell if the acting or writing is worse most of the time. The special effects are embarrassing too. Still I'm having some fun with it and assume it gets better?
So what does the ever-opinionated DL think about Star Trek, especially the TV series? No spoilers please, but are there gay characters? Do the storylines and the caliber of acting improve? Does Star Trek even have a lot of gay fans? None of my friends watch or know anyone who does.

I can't figure it out. It's not that we need someone to do actual heavy lifting for us, or to physically protect me.
All muscles really mean is that someone is physically disciplined for a long period of time and has enough leisure time to go regularly to the gym.

Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock, a rising Republican star already facing an ethics inquiry, has spent taxpayer and campaign funds on flights aboard private planes owned by some of his key donors, The Associated Press has found. There also have been other expensive travel and entertainment charges, including for a massage company and music concerts.
Being a closeted gay guy isn't Schock's only problem. Video:

CPAC straw poll: Rand Paul leads GOP 2016 hopefuls with third win
- Kentucky senator takes poll from Wisconsin governor Scott Walker
- Prize is a dubious one: only three winners have won presidential nomination
Martin Pengelly in New York, Saturday 28 February 2015 22.45 GMT
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky won the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) presidential straw poll for a third year in a row on Saturday, beating rising 2016 hopeful Scott Walker into second place.
Paul – who took 25.7% of the vote to the governor of Wisconsin’s 21.4% – won the poll in 2013 and 2014, and had been widely favoured win the hard-right CPAC attendees over once again.
Paul spoke at the conference on Friday, seeking to reassure a hawkish audience over his foreign policy credentials. Walker spoke on Thursday – in his attempt to demonstrate strength on foreign affairs he appeared to compare passing anti-union legislation in Wisconsin to taking on Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, causing great offence at home.
Paul’s joy will not be unbounded: in 20 CPAC straw polls for which records exist, only three winners have gone on to win the Republican nomination for president: Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Mitt Romney. Paul’s father, the libertarian congressman Ron Paul, won in 2010 and 2011 but failed in bids for the nomination in 2008 and 2012.
The Texas senator and Tea Party favourite Ted Cruz was third in the 2015 vote with 11.5%, just ahead of the retired neurosurgeon and avowed foe of Obamacare Dr Ben Carson, who took 11.4%. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, son and brother of former presidents and establishment favourite for 2016, took 8.3% of the votes cast and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum 4.3%.
Earlier, the New York Times reported that Bush supporters “organised caravans of his Washington backers” to attend the event, at which he appeared for a mildly contentious Q&A session with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Friday, prompting complaints from conservative media about an attempt to rig the poll.
Notable names among the also-rans included another Florida politician seen by hardliners to be soft on immigration, Senator Marco Rubio, with 3.7%, and Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey who took only 2.7% despite trying to convince conference-goers in his appearance that he would be a “hard, fighting” candidate for president.
Christie finished behind the real-estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump.
Two notably conservative former governors, Rick Perry of Texas and Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, took 1.1% and 0.8% respectively; Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal attracted 0.9% of the vote, joining Huckabee in losing out to “undecided”.
Just over 3,000 votes were cast at the three-day gathering, at a convention centre in Maryland.

I''m always reading here that he is gay as if it is a fact, but where''s the evidence?\
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All I see is a list of relationships with women going back many years.\
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He lived with Rebbeca De Mornay for 2 or 3 years in the early 1980''s after Risky Business. He then went on to marry Mimi Rogers, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes.\
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To me, living with a woman, being married to 3 others and having a child with one of them does not seem to be evidence of a man being gay.\
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Am I missing something?

Just wondering. It seems to me that a lot of threads about having sex with straight men seem to get the most replies.
Meanwhile, I still don't get the difference b/w straight and gay guys and one should be more desirable than the other in terms of dating.

I like binge watching and have seen the ones that get a lot of publicity like House of Cards and OITNB.
I would love to have new show to binge on.
Anything on Starz?
Amazon?
Netflix...
What have you enjoyed that went under the publicity radar?

Recently bought one. My first in more than 35 years. I went from vinyl to eight-track to cassette to CD to digital and have stayed there. I'm amazed how much better vinyl sounds. Richer and deeper.
Now I'm combing old record stores on a mission to obtain all the albums I remember having at one time. Right now I'm listening to Joni Mitchell's [italic]Ladies of the Canyon[/italic].
I don't think anyone listens to albums anymore all the way through. That's a shame.

Following a 6-2 vote Tuesday by the city council, city employees of Conway, Arkansas can (for the time being) go to work with the assurance that they can’t be fired for their sexuality or gender identity. Conway mayor Tab Townsell threw his full support behind the decision to extend protections to the town’s LGBT population despite many of his more conservative constituents voicing concern for their religious liberties.
Mark Ledbetter and Mary Smith, the two council members who opposed the new protections, expressed their belief that the public had not been given adequate time to fully appreciate the implications of heightened job security for Conway’s queer workforce.
Conway’s move to legally protect its LGBT employees comes just days after Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson allowed SB 202 to become law - legislation that expressly forbids local town governments from enacting pro-LGBT policies like Conway’s. Specifically SB 202 requires that:
“A county, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance, resolution, rule, or policy that creates a protected classification or prohibits discrimination on a basis not contained in state law.”
The law is set to go into effect 90 days after the state Legislature formally adjourns, which is currently set for May. After that, Conway's ordinance will no longer protect LGBT folks.
One of the chief concerns raised by opponents of SB 202 was the chilling effect that sanctioning discrimination against queer workers might have on the local economy. Following Hutchinson’s decision representatives from Tyson Foods and Walmart both spoke out on behalf of their companies, expressing their disagreement with the law.
Outcry from large LGBT advocacy organizations like the HRC were conspicuously missing immediately after SB 202 went into effect, prompting Michael Signorile to claim social “malpractice.” Not seizing upon any and all opportunities to draw attention to these kinds of injustices, Signorile reasoned, was irresponsible and linked to a broader sense of gay complacency:
“And it's part of the right's plan to roll back LGBT rights while many LGBT people become complacent or apathetic, buying into this idea that full civil rights are inevitable, pointing, for example, to polling about young people being more accepting, and, well, doing pretty much what many women foolishly did in the early years of the backlash against women's liberation.”
HRC President Chad Griffin soon issued an official statement after widespread criticism for his organization's silence on the developments in Arkansas:
"I’m proud to call Arkansas my home state—the place where my entire extended family has lived for years. I know these bills do not reflect the Arkansas values.
They certainly do not reflect this state’s commitment to growing a 21st Century economy that attracts good paying jobs—and to guaranteeing a business climate that welcomes everyone who is willing to work hard and build a better future for themselves and for their community. These kinds of political attacks have been rejected by Republicans and Democrats all across this country. Let’s not let Arkansas be dragged backward by an unrepresentative minority."

I don't know WB, maybe she's on her period or going through the 'pause'.
Warren Buffett thinks Elizabeth Warren should dial down the anger.
“She would do better if she was less angry and demonized less,” said the Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO on Monday when CNBC anchor Joe Kernen asked for his thoughts on the Democratic senator from Massachusetts.
“I believe in 'hate the sin, love the sinner,' and I also believe in praising by name and criticizing by category,” he added.
Buffett, who put out his annual letter to shareholders this weekend, explained that he believes senators on both sides of the aisle need to work together on legislation.
“It does not help when you demonize the people you’re talking to,” he said.
In his CNBC interview, the folksy billionaire reiterated his support for Hillary Clinton’s presumed run for president in 2016.

Russell Tovey: 'My sexuality still comes up in casting'
Published Saturday, Aug 24 2013, 16:56 BST | By Beth Curtis
Russell Tovey has admitted that his sexuality still comes up when being cast in straight roles.
The openly gay actor, who is best known for playing Rudge in The History Boys, werewolf George Sands Junior in Being Human and Steve in Him & Her, told The Guardian that questions are still asked about whether audiences can accept gay actors in straight roles.
He said: "I've found out over the years that the conversation about casting me has come up: would it affect the show and the audience if I'm a gay man playing a straight character? These conversations are being had still."
However, Tovey insisted that most television viewers "don't give a f**k about your private life or know who you are".
The 31-year-old rose to prominence in archetypal "bloke" roles, but said that he is keen to play a gay character in future.
He added: "I really want to do it properly, with something that is clever and moving everything forward rather than covering old ground.
"Not someone who's gay and miserable, dying of Aids, secluded, a bit weird. I want to play someone who's normal and just happens to be gay."
Tovey will next appear in crime mystery What Remains, which starts on BBC One at 9pm tomorrow (August 25).

We all know the Joker's hair isn't nearly as long and luscious as Jared Leto's. So when he took on the role for David Ayer's Suicide Squad, his ombréd locks inevitably had to go. Ayer teased the big chop on Twitter earlier today, and now he's finally revealed what Leto as the Joker will look like. (Spoiler: a hell of a lot like Jordan Catalano, with even shorter hair!)

I'm the OP of the thread that reported on the male country music star that will be coming out on Entertainment Tonight. I'm happy to report that the DL Super Sleuths solved the mystery within an hour! Here's the breaking story from People Magazine, ahead of the ET story!
*****************
Five years ago, country singer Ty Herndon finally recognized that he had a very important story to share.
"During an Anthony Robbins seminar, I realized I had an incredible story that could possibly help someone's son or daughter or grandchild's life not be as difficult as mine has been," he tells PEOPLE. "Maybe they wouldn't have to go through as much pain and suffering. It's time to tell my truth."
That "truth" is about a part of himself he has kept secret for his entire career: "I'm an out, proud and happy gay man," the Nashville artist revealed to PEOPLE during a sit-down in New York Tuesday. (Herndon appears on Entertainment Tonight Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, his first TV interview about his journey.)
The revelation was many years in the making for the 51-year-old singer, who first wondered if he was gay when he was about 10 years old and then began coming out to close family members at 20.
"My mother probably knew I was gay before I did. I remember sitting down with her and having the conversation," recalls Herndon, noting his career path in country worried her. But, ultimately, "she was more concerned about me having a happy life. You have to be able to do that in your own skin, and [my family] has seen me struggle with being gay my whole career."
[bold]Some Early Snags[/bold]
While his professional start was promising (he was earning steady airplay with hit singles including "What Mattered Most," "Living in a Moment" and "It Must Be Love"), the singer hit some snags along the way – including an indecent exposure charge for allegedly exposing himself to a police officer in 1995 (the charge was later dropped in a plea bargain) and subsequent time in rehab for drug addiction.
"I have made a lot of mistakes in my life. They've been my mistakes, and I own them," says Herndon, who was married to women twice before coming to terms with his sexuality. (He says both ex-wives knew he was gay.) "I've done a lot of work around forgiveness with people that I've hurt and people I've not been honest with because of my sexuality."
Herndon's revelation follows fellow country artist Chely Wright's coming out to PEOPLE in 2010.
[bold]Longtime Partner[/bold]
Wright, a close friend of his, played a big part in his coming out – as did his longtime partner, Matt. A mutual friend introduced the couple, and they spoke on the phone for six months before meeting. As a one-year anniversary and Christmas present, Matt brought them to that fateful Anthony Robbins seminar in 2009 that reminded him of his own struggle – and his wish to spare others that pain.
"I was 10, sitting in church and horrified that I might be a homosexual. Whatever that word meant, I knew that I probably was one," Herndon recalls. "And I know there's a lot of those kids still out there. Telling my story is an opportunity to help just one of them," says Herndon.
"They can be loved by God, they can be married one day, they can have a family, they can give their parents grandkids," Herndon adds. "And they're not broken, they're not sinners and they're perfectly beautiful."
Both the singer and his partner are practicing Christians, and Herndon says it's taken time to reconcile his faith with his sexuality. But he's getting there.
"I sit on the tailgate of my pickup truck, and I meditate, and I talk to God," he says. "That's really all I need to know. I have a connection to something bigger than myself, and no one's going to tell me that I can't have it. We get to choose who we love, and that includes God, and he loves us back."
(continued)

I am enjoying it thoroughly. Anyone watching?
I like the actress playing the lead character and her clones, and really enjoy the gay foster brother (I've always had a thing for hot campy guys).
Maria Doyle Kennedy does "woebegone and stern" very well (The Tudors; Downton), but I have a feeling she'll get a chance to show more as the foster mom/grandmother as this goes on.
Is the setting supposed to be Toronto?

I turned it off after twenty minutes. It was like something USA Network would have aired a decade ago.
there was nothing Midwestern about it. Why make a show about a Midwestern city and title it after a Midwestern city and make it feel like it takes place in Long Beach?

You guys don''t know what you''re missing. My cooter got punished last night. It''s almost 10 and it feels like his cock is still pounding my hole. I really wish every gay man could experience that just once. I am laying in bed still luxuriating in the feeling. \
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Its gonna be a good Sunday. Love to you all.

I'm in charge of the Hospitality Suite for a week at a big corporate event this summer. Money isn't a huge issue, but delicious, interesting food and unique theme|decor is. Fully-stocked bar with all top-shelf liquor, so that's covered. Event will be at a 5-star hotel, with talented catering staff eager to do whatever. Per our contract, I'm allowed to bring in outside items, be it decor or food. Attendees will be upper middle class, mostly college-educated professionals, age range from 25-75ish, about 60% female, about 40% gay males, mixed ethnic diversity...smart, interesting, eclectic group, many of whom are well-traveled and entertain frequently. The bulk of this will occur from 9PM-1AM nightly. I need to nail this, guys...and you're the experts! All suggestions are greatly appreciated, no matter how minor. Best hors d'oeuvres? Most memorable theme? Classiest party-related concept? Favorite dessert? Unique serving ideas? Thanks!

The masked Islamic State militant known as "Jihadi John", who has been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of Western hostages, has been named.
The BBC understands he is Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British man believed to be from West London, who was known to UK security services.
They chose not to disclose his name earlier for operational reasons.
Emwazi first appeared in a video last August, when he apparently killed the American journalist James Foley.
He was later thought to have been pictured in the videos of the beheadings of US journalist Steven Sotloff, British aid worker David Haines, British taxi driver Alan Henning, and American aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known as Peter.
Last month, the militant appeared in a video with the Japanese hostages Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto, shortly before they were killed.
Emwazi is believed to be an associate of a former UK control order suspect, who travelled to Somalia in 2006 and is allegedly linked to a facilitation and funding network for Somali militant group al-Shabab.

New Kids on the Block's Jonathan Knight Will Compete on The Amazing Race
By Patrick Gomez, 12/19/2014 AT 09:05 PM EST
Does Jonathan Knight have the right stuff to win The Amazing Race?
The former New Kids on the Block member and his boyfriend, Harley Rodriguez, have been revealed as one of 11 couples competing on the next season of the CBS reality competition.
Knight, 46, and his personal trainer boyfriend, 41, have more than six years' experience traveling together as a couple, which they can draw on as they race around the world, but not all of the competitors will have that same advantage.
For the first time in the show's 13 years on the air, five of teams will be comprised of strangers who have been paired together by the show for the ultimate blind date.

She was addicted to the attention. She's an avid mommy blogger and every post got her attention, especially posts about her son being sick. So she tried to gain more sympathy by poisoning her son three times. "Oh, my little angel is sick and has to go to the hospital. Please pray."
By the third time she went too far and the son died. "My little angel went to heaven at 10:20 today and is now a real angel." Tons of sympathy posts followed giving her the attention she craved.

Ever picked up a guy or messed around with someone who ended up creeping you out later? Someone with violent tendencies that you wanted to get away from ASAP? Someone you regretted ever bringing back home or riding back in a car with?
Post about your scary hook-up/one night stand experiences here.

Both of my penises can ejaculate and when they cum one after another I have an orgasm that lasts for a solid 60 seconds+. Fortunately, each penis is the same size so it's pretty easy to double masturbate, but it looks a little chaotic towards the end so I have never engaged in sex with another guy.
I'm almost 25 now and I would like to meet someone to develop a relationship, but I'm afraid of being rejected for being a freak. Would any of you younger guys on this board consider such a friend? What would your reaction be to someone unusual like myself in bed?

Not an overnight stay in the county jail. Prison.%0D\
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My brother served 5 years in Texas, for rape.%0D\
He hasn''t shared much about his time, except to say that it was incredibly boring and he could never let his guard down.%0D\
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He claims not to have been raped although he was only 21 went he went in, and good-looking.%0D\
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Is it possible to relax in prison? To have a trusting relationship with another prison?

New York in the '70s was infamous for its grit and crime, but at what point did it start becoming so dirty (graffitied subway cars, bombed-out-looking housing projects, seedy Times Square)?
I'm assuming the downfall started in the late '60s?

Although I enjoyed THE AFFAIR, I also realized that my life would have been just fine had I not spent those 10(?) hours watching it.
I do love GAME OF THRONES and HOUSE OF CARDS, however.
Will THE SLAP get amazing somehow? (For those who have seen the Australian version)
I'm thinking of not finishing it. It's good but just not so gripping to spend numerous hours on it

The movie is called Focus and it stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie and the hot Rodrigo Santoro.
Got curious about Margot and her wiki says she is a lesbian.
In 2009, Robbie began living with her Neighbours co-star Ashleigh Brewer.[34] Following her decision to quit Neighbours, she announced that she was moving to live with her former co-star Caitlin Stasey in Los Angeles, California.[35] During her time on Pan Am, she lived in New York City, New York
Your welcome ladies.

Thebox shut itself down last year, only to create a new "secret" site, ZXCV. Well, the latter was finally closed a few days ago. It was the best place to get rare British television shows. The moderators were the worst though. They were schoolyard bullies.
Anyway, did anyone here use those sites? I'm not big into torrents. That was the only place I would use them as the stuff they had was so rare, and it wasn't a big public web site.

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Goldie Hawn's former husband Bill Hudson, father of her actress daughter Kate Hudson, is shopping a devastating tell-all book about his ex. %0D
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The proposal, tentatively titled "So You Are a Star," teases: "What if your ex-wife used her public platform to spread rumors about your relationship with your children?" It describes Hawn as "a movie star who enjoyed having 'open relationships' and limiting access to their children." %0D
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Musician Bill, who divorced Hawn in 1979, has remained estranged from their children Kate and Oliver, who were raised by Goldie and her longtime partner, Kurt Russell.%0D
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After meeting Hawn in 1975, Hudson writes, they once made love for 12 hours until she confessed she was seeing another man. But she sobbed, "You're my soul mate . . . it's just that I've always believed in open marriage." He continues, "We made love everywhere . . . airplane bathrooms, rooftops, under the covers in first-class . . . just any and every place we could find." %0D
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He claims actor George Segal told him he once tried to flirt with Goldie during filming, but he was turned down -- "You must be pretty special to her because everybody knows Goldie's always up for a good time." %0D
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Bill told us last night that Kate and Goldie "have said things about me to the press that are untrue, that I abandoned my family. I tried to stay in contact with my children, but Goldie made it impossible." %0D
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He said that when his mother became sick two years ago, Kate refused to return his phone calls and texts. He claimed, "Kate has used the story of her being abandoned by me because she needed tragedy in her life. She grew up privileged in Hollywood with private planes. Nobody was going to sympathize unless she had some tragedy." %0D
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Diane Nine, Bill's agent, said, "We are meeting with publishers next week. But the proposal is quite explosive. What he really wants is a relationship with his children and he hopes this will help." Reps for Goldie and Kate didn't get back to us.%0D
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I know a few bi men who identify as straight. They''re completely comfortable within themselves and acknowledge that they like guys/girls equally, yet if you asked them they''d say they were straight....Is this common amongst bi men?

Final Glee episode pays tribute to Cory Monteith, says Kevin McHale
By Harry Fletcher Friday, Feb 20 2015, 12:27pm EST
Kevin McHale has spoken about the upcoming Glee finale.
The actor revealed that the final episode of the sixth and final series of the Fox show will pay tribute to his former co-star, the late Cory Monteith.
Speaking to Access Hollywood, McHale said: "I think [Finn] is always remembered and especially at a time like this at the very end, there will definitely be some sort of mention of him.
"He'll be involved in some way."
Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room from a mixed drug toxicity on July 13, 2013, drawing tributes from fans and friends the world over.
The actor and his character Finn were honored in Glee's season 5 episode 'The Quarterback', which first aired a few months after Monteith's death.
McHale – who plays Artie Abrams on the show – also spoke about the series finale of Glee, saying that he was "happy" with it as a conclusion to the series.
"I'm satisfied. I was reading it and the last two episodes are airing back-to-back, so it's kinda this double whammy all at the end," he explained.
"I think [viewers will] be happy. I was happy. They tie up a lot of great storylines and you get to see these people in a new light and follow their journey.
"These characters have gone through a lot, and I think there's a good payoff at the end."

I was talking late one night over drinks with a straight co-worker - dishing about a 'Bi' guy in our office.
"Oh, he's a total Top," said my friend. "He won't suck a dick or take it up the ass. He told me so. He'll cuddle, but won't kiss a guy. No way!"
"Well, then he's not gay."
"Of course he is! He likes to get ..."
"His dick sucked. Yeah. That's not GAY that's being a GUY."
So there we have it. We pondered that for a while. Does having a guy suck your dick make you gay? Or are the truly gay guys the ones that actually want and crave cock?
I personally think TOPS are frauds.

Most gay porn is so vanilla. Lousy camera angles, boring models, no sensuality. The worst is when it's 20 minutes of passionless banging and asshole closeups. Oral cumshots are extremely rare.
Straight porn actually shows of the girls, and the girls act just so much more into it.

I'm going to LA in March and people are telling me to try Air BNB, instead of a traditional hotel. I want to stay in WeHO. I don't want to get scammed. If you can give any advice that would be awesome.

Anyone here with Arby's corporate headquarters? Can you shed some light on the pricing decisions? Is it to give the appearance of being 'upscale'? A chicken salad wrap, curly fries and a drink shouldn't be 8 bucks.

Seriously, I just watched the recent update with him. No passion, no chemistry. He started off bad, then improved as videos went on, but recently he has not even been bothering. He is clearly just going through the motions for a paycheck.
Can we quit pretending like he is hot shit?

I took a cooking class and I thought the chef was a hottie. I saw him in his t shirt before he put on the white coat and felt lust in my heart. He did not really flirt back but seemed receptive with smiles etc. \
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When he left the room for a minute one of other students who knew him told me that he was straight and very married. \
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After the class I apologized and he said that one should never apologize for being complimentary and kind. I think he meant it. \
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I wish everyone felt this way.

You know the saying "there's someone for everyone"? Well, it's true. Butch Patrick, 57, who played young Eddie Munster on "The Munsters" TV show in the '60s, is getting married. And not to just anybody. He'll tie the knot with his self-described "biggest fan," with whom he used to correspond when they were kids.
News of the impending nuptials sent Web searches on the groom sky high. But not even the surge of interest in all things Butch Patrick (his signature widow's-peak hairdo is particularly popular in the Search box) could match the level of lookups for his betrothed, Donna McCall.
Here's the story: When Mr. Patrick starred on "The Munsters," he and Ms. McCall would write back and forth to each other. Donna, it turns out, was a big fan and had a massive crush on the youngest Munster.
According to My Fox Philly, years passed and the two fell out of touch. Then, Ms. McCall, now 55, tracked him down on the Internet. The two exchanged phone numbers, talked, and agreed to meet for the first time at "Dracula Con II" in Philadelphia. Next thing you know, they're engaged.
Ms. McCall is a former cheerleader with the Philadelphia Eagles, a fact that helped contribute to the booming searches on "donna mccall eagles" and "donna mccall cheerleader." In an article for Philly.com, Mr. Patrick joked that while he does hear from female fans fairly often, not many are cheerleaders.
Says the future Mrs. Munster: "My first crush was Butch Patrick. I met him for the first time, but I feel like I've known him forever."
McCall accepted Patrick's proposal (of course), and now the two are set to tie the knot. "It's a great love story," says Ms. McCall, a retired pharmacist. "We're very happy together." Congratulations, guys!

So Casper Andreas, best known as creating the quasi-Colton Haynes biopic "Going Down in LA-LA Land" needs help.
The movie stars DL fave Gale Harold, DL fave Van Hansis and openly gay cuties from Mad Men Kit Williamson and from Buffy Tom Lenk.
It's a gay murder mystery that will no doubt become a DL camp favorite so throw them some money bitches.

If so, please identify yourself and explain to us what makes you tick. I'm seriously curious.
There seems to be an overwhelming number of your sort on Datalounge these days. You can't all be Christian freepers, can you? I know some gay people are also always pointing accusing fingers at people who actually do things with their penises.

My friend is a natural businessman.
He's not afraid of money and talking about it. He knows the value of money and how things should be priced. Most importantly, he knows that the majority of people ARE fearful of discussing money. He easily takes advantage of that, as do so many businessmen.
What's not so great is to talk with someone for whom money trumps everything. Every conversation has money in it.
My advice to those making major purchases is that everything is negotiable. Also, if you feel uncomfortable about any part of the purchase, don't pretend you completely understand everything. Stop and make the salesman slow down and explain properly.
Finally, the salesman is not your friend. Stop feeling the salesman will think less of you if don't do everything he says.

There are those who want to shut me up but they cannot! We still live in a world that discriminates against women. Their are People that are so hateful. they want to create feuds between strong women that do not exist! I do not wish ill will towards any other female artist and i never have! The World is big enough for all of us! I will fight for my rights as an artist, a human and a woman till the end of my days! Because i am a ❤️#rebelheart and i walk in the footsteps of giants and i will not apologize Or defend my unpublished, unfinished, STOLEN work. If you don't like who i am or what I have to say then why are you reading this? #unapologeticbitch. P.S. Do not post hateful words about other people on my page either. If you are my fan speak no evil! #livingforlove

As the deadly carbon monoxide fumes from a gasoline-powered generator filled his lungs, a suicidal Conrad Roy III got scared and stepped out of his truck, but police say his 18-year-old girlfriend goaded him into taking his life with three chilling words: “Get back in.”
Roy, 18, was found dead on July 13 inside his truck in the parking lot of a Fairhaven Kmart. “The sickly sweet taste of exhaust gas still could be detected,” according to police.
Michelle Carter, who was a 17-year-old student at King Philip Regional High School at the time of Roy’s death, faces up to 20 years behind bars on a charge of involuntary manslaughter and will be tried as an adult.
“Michelle Carter not only encouraged Conrad to take his own life, she questioned him repeatedly as to when and why he hadn’t done it yet, right up to the point of when his final text was sent to her on Saturday evening, July 12, 2014 at 6:26 p.m.,” the police report states.
Carter referred to Roy as her “guardian angel,” and continued texting his cellphone 71 times after he died, according to police.
After his death, the messages show Carter morphing into a suicide awareness crusader, hosting a fundraiser in his name and comforting his grieving mother and sister, according to the filings.
The night before Roy’s suicide, Carter texted a friend, seemingly worried about his whereabouts: “I’m losing all hope that he’s even still alive” — and “I’m thankful that our last words were ‘I love you.’ ”
But just before sending that message, she texted Roy: “Let me know when you’re gonna do it.”
Police say Carter never called 911 and instead continued texting her friends, feigning concern.
After Roy’s death, police say Carter exchanged emails with Roy’s mother, Lynn, trying to comfort and reassure her:
“I tried talking him out of it so many times,” Carter wrote, “and telling him how we could always be together and he wanted that but he thought he would never truly be happy with himself.”
She even organized a baseball fundraiser called “Homers for Conrad” that pulled in more than $2,300 for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
No one answered the phone at Carter’s Plainville home yesterday. But her lawyer, Joseph Cataldo, told the Herald, “It’s a sad story but what we have is a young man who made a voluntary decision to take his own life — it was his voluntary decision — his death was not caused by Michelle Carter.
“It is a slippery slope if the government is now going to prosecute people under a manslaughter — a 20-year felony charge — for not preventing those who want to commit suicide and that’s what they’re trying to do here,” Cataldo said.
Roy’s distraught grandparents called the tale “bizarre” and “mind-boggling” and said they were “shocked” when they heard about Carter’s emails and texts.
“It was just horrible to live this all over again and to find out how this came about. I mean, we knew he was suffering from depression, but we thought he was getting over it all,” Janice Roy, his grandmother, said in her Mattapoisett home.
Asked if they thought Carter’s messages convinced Roy to kill himself, his grandfather Conrad Roy Sr. said, “Her texts had a big influence on what happened.”
Added Janice Roy: It’s hard to say why, but after reading the reports ... I don’t think he would have done anything at that time.”
Both remembered a happy grandson who loved baseball and rowing and was ecstatic when he earned his captain’s license, following in both his father and grandfather’s footsteps.
Conrad Roy Sr. said he took him out on his tug boat when “C3” was just 3-days-old. “That was like the start of the third generation when he got his captain’s license,” Roy said. “That was like the most heart-warming thing that I could remember.”

Right before Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Tuesday, a story began to spread Sunday that President Obama threatened to shoot down Israeli jets if they attacked Iranian nuclear facilities, with predictable results.
They all ran with it: World Net Daily, Breitbart, Newsmax, Washington Times, Fox Nation, and, of course, Megyn Kelly, who – again of course – reports it as fact, not rumor.
And she thinks Jon Stewart has been unfair to her. Right.
The report comes to us from religiously conservative Israeli news source, Arutz Sheva, which in turn gleaned it from Bethlehem-based news agency, Ma’an, which in turn got it from the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, which had apparently obtained it from anonymous sources in the Israeli government.
The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an has cited a Kuwaiti newspaper report Saturday, that US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.
Following Obama’s threat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was reportedly forced to abort the planned Iran attack.
According to the report, Netanyahu decided to strike Iran in 2014 when they found out the U.S. was actually talking to Iran, “because such an agreement is, allegedly, a threat to Israel’s security.” An unknown Israeli minister told John Kerry, who told Obama, who decided to act based on Zbigniew Brzezinski’s 2009 recommendation that Israeli planes be shot down if they attack Iran.
To tell you how absolutely outrageous this claim is, even Breitbart expressed dismay and doubt, saying “the news would appear to hang somewhere north of ‘astonishing,’ but south of ‘unbelievable.'”
And Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu wrote at the conservative Jewish Press yesterday that, “The report has no confirmation from any other source and appears at first glance to be an invention of an imaginative editor.” While acknowledging Al-Jarida editor Mohammed al-Sager’s credentials, he goes on to opine that,
The idea that President Barack Obama would order the U.S. Air Force to down an Israeli seems like a Grade-B horror movie plot…The report may be fantasy, but the fact that Al Jarida dared to report it says a lot about perceptions of the relationship between Netanyahu and Obama.
Roger L. Simon opines that the report “is not likely true,” and that, “More likely, the report, which emerged from Kuwait, is disinformation timed to discredit Prime Minister Netanyahu and make him seem a warmonger in advance of his address to Congress Tuesday.”
None of this clear-thinking has stopped the right wing, generally more than ready to believe anything bad about Obama, explode with outrage at the idea, as the comments at Breitbart demonstrate:
Chuck Finley: It’s now official, Obama is on the side of EVIL.
Well, not really. It’s a rumor even Breitbart finds difficult to credit, and these guys INVENT news.
Sipius is probably reading some of that invented news as he claims that “our military reduced and gutted to pay for entitlements…”
Geeman gave voice to racist crackers everywhere when he complained,
“Who knew Obama was talking about transforming America into a Muslim country? I was worrying about his white commie half when I should have been worried about his black Muslim half.”
Anyone introducing a hint of an actual fact into the conversation, like Sancho Panzer for pointing out that even Meir Dagan, head of Israel’s secret service Mossad, recently said that Netanyahu himself is the man who has “caused the greatest strategic damage to Israel” gets “flagged…for stupidity.”
Because you have to be stupid to disagree with these ill-informed braniacs.
No facts will be allowed to enter the echo chamber.
Yet according to The Times of Israel just a few days ago, “For all his tough rhetoric on Iran, Dagan said Netanyahu had backed down from taking military action against Iran in the past because “all of the professional bodies were opposed.” This additional piece from Aruta Sheva seems to back up this analysis.
Ed Driscoll writes, “If this report is true, who at this late stage in Mr. Obama’s administration who’s been paying the slightest bit of attention to his actions would be at all surprised by it?”
In any case, “I wish Obama was half as mad at ISIS as he is at Netanyahu,” Jon Gabriel of Ricochet tweets. Or as Mark Steyn asked last month when the media ginned up the Rudy kerfuffle, if Obama was “working for the other side, what exactly would he be doing differently?”
Islamophobe-in-chief Pamela Geller, having once invented the “fact” of Obama’s anti-Semitism, , is now saying, “I told you so.”
He doesn’t even pretend anymore. And the terrible reality is that there are so many on the left who love this — The Democrats have become the anti-Israel party with the anti-semite-in-chief.
In other words, something that didn’t happen proves something she invented is true. Ouch. That hurts my brain.
A couple of comments at her Atlas Shrugged site are also illustrative of right wing hysteria over a mere third-and rumor:
WarEagle82: The Republic has been overthrown by Marxists.
Mordy: Enemy of America. Enemy of Israel. Enemy of Holiness
Mordy even compares Netanyahu to Esther (doesn’t he know that’s Sarah Palin?):
Like Queen Esther, P.M. Netanyahu broke protocol and also will not be silent in the face of an existential Persian threat to destroy the Jewish People.
And DanaR commented at Newsmax that, “And here we have Obama showing he would protect Iran over Israel.”
It doesn’t even occur to any of these “patriots” that by attacking Iran, Israel would have been drawing the United States into a war on its behalf, essentially setting American foreign policy with a fait accompli. Or that preventing Israel from controlling U.S. foreign policy is not a defense of Iran but a very legitimate defense of U.S. interests.
It becomes apparent, in thinking about all this, why John Boehner and Benjamin Netanyahu get along. I have no help to offer Geller’s fanboys and fangirls, but maybe, when Netanyahu gets voted out of office, and Boehner gets ousted as Speaker of the House, the two can meet at Boehner’s Florida mansion paid for with Koch dollars, and discuss the might-have-been dystopian futures they tried to bring about.

They're a bunch of baloney. There's no scientific evidence that they amount to anything. There's no scientific method to even reading them. Why on Earth are they still used by law enforcement? It's amazing that people get jobs as "experts." Everyone is shocked when someone passes one and they were the perpetrator. Then there are those who fail and end up having nothing to do with anything. The police make all kinds of excuses, saying, "Well, the person felt guilty about so and so being murdered and couldn't do anything to stop it, and that showed deception."
The public really doesn't understand how unreliable these things are. Calling them "lie detector tests" is part of the problem. They don't detect lies.

Ryan Creed - BuzzFeed Staff - Feb. 27, 2015
Janet Jackson was the leading diva of the late ’80s and early ’90s. She sold over 140 million records in her career. She was the original Beyoncé.
But she’s kept a low profile recently. In 2010 she appeared in Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls, in 2011 she began her Number Ones, Up Close and Personal tour, and then…nothing.
She is depriving the world of pure joy by dropping out of the spotlight with her billionaire husband. We need the music!
We need the choreography!
And most importantly, we need her cleavage back!

I am always about 3-4 years behind on TV, but I am really enjoying "24". And damn, I now have a TV crush on Kiefer Sutherland.
Any gossip on him other than that he got a DUI and went to jail for a month and a half?
He has a music label Ironworks and I thought that would break my crush but I love white people R&B too, which is apparently its specialty.
At the least, anyone else find him sexy?

I''m sorry, but does anyone else find the dynamic between these two more ''creepy'' than romantic? The possessive mannerisms of the brunette makes me want to run screaming.%0D\
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Yes, they''ve been together for a long time, but it''s pretty obvious who is wearing the strap-on in this relationship, and also who would be parboiling pet rabbits if the other strayed...

1 hour ago
William Shatner sent out a series of Tweets on Saturday expressing his grief over the loss of one his "dearest friends," Leonard Nimoy.
Sadly, due to a prior commitment that poses a scheduling conflict, Shatner is unable to attend Nimoy's funeral on Sunday.
"I am currently in FL as I agreed to appear at the Red Cross Ball tonight. Leonard's funeral is tomorrow. I can't make it back in time," he explained, adding in another Tweet, "I feel really awful. Here I am doing charity work and one of my dearest friends is being buried."
hatner, who starred as Captain James T. Kirk on "Star Trek," asked that fans keep his former co-star in their thoughts as he is laid to rest.
"So maybe tomorrow we come together here and celebrate his life," the actor Tweeted and continued, "So let's spend some time tomorrow celebrating Leonard's life and remembering the man."
He also took time to thank everyone who has paid tribute to the late star.
"I am so humbled by the worldwide outpouring of love that has been displayed; words cannot express my feelings," he wrote in one Tweet and further expressed gratitude in another that read, "There are so many people who I need to say thank you to."
Shatner ended his series of Tweets with one final note, "Until tomorrow! #LLAP." #LLAP stands for Nimoy's famous "Star Trek" line, "Live long and prosper."
On Friday, the day Nimoy passed, Shatner Tweeted, "I loved him like a brother. We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love."
Nimoy died Friday morning "after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at his home in Bel Air. Mr. Nimoy was 83 years old," a spokesperson for the actor told Access Hollywood .

Let's get to the bottom of this, who is the sexier brother between Chris and Liam Hemsworth . Attached are the most recent pictures of them side by side at the "Thor: The Dark World" movie premiere the other day.
Who do you think looks better?

I recently saw a pig of a women drag her maybe five year old daughter into the toilets crying. I was shocked at how rough she was being with this poor child. To make matters worse she was screaming at her for wetting herself. 'I told you to wait you disgusting girl' look what you've done. Jerking her around and smacking her. It goes on and was quite disturbing. I was waiting for my friend so i saw it all.
I wanted to say something but she was violent and unpredictable. But i did stare her down with the most intense scorpio fuck you glare i could manage. She stared back as she walked out but said nothing. Everyone else totally ignored it.
I regret my actions because i believe i had the right to stop her or report her. What are the laws reguarding your own children and what would you do or say?

Removed from ventilator, Bobbi Kristina Brown's condition unchanged: source
Thu Feb 19, 2015 3:05pm EST
(Reuters) - Doctors have taken Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of late singer Whitney Houston, off the ventilator that has helped her breathe since she was found unresponsive in a bathtub last month, but no decisions have been made to take her off life support, a family source said on Thursday.
The source, who declined to be identified, said Brown's overall condition has not changed. Removing the breathing tube was a standard course of practice to avoid infection, the source said.
Family members have said Brown, 21, the only child of singers Bobby Brown and Houston, is fighting for her life at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after she was discovered on Jan. 31 face down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her suburban home.
They have said little about the aspiring singer's treatment or medical prognosis, and Bobby Brown has asked for privacy.
Police in Roswell, Georgia, are treating the case as a criminal investigation and have been questioning people about the circumstances leading up to Brown being found in the tub.
Brown's famous mother, a six-time Grammy Award winner and actress who battled substance abuse, drowned in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, on Feb. 11, 2012. Authorities said cocaine use and heart disease contributed to Houston's death at age 48.

I'm watching Hangover III in HD on my flat screen TV, and his gigantic tush took up nearly the entirety of my screen in the scene when he gets out of the van and throws the burgers over the fence to the dogs. I'm enamored.

Michael Lohan, 2.0?
Kate Hudson's biological father Bill Hudson has long been removed from her life, and the actress and new mom considers Goldie Hawn's longtime love Kurt Russell to be her dad. But now, the musician, 61, is coming out of the woodworks to bash his famous daughter -- and his ex-wife -- in a tell-all memoir.
"Life in the spotlight is not without its consequences, and the Hudson family was no exception," the book's website says. "After [his divorce from Hawn in 1980], Bill found himself in the middle of the controversial issue of parental alienation. His rights as a father to see his children were often played out in the media because Oliver and Kate became actors themselves." (Kate's brother Oliver Hudson, 35, currently stars in Rules of Engagement.)
Bill hasn't held back his contempt for his 32-year-old daughter. "Kate doesn't have to talk to me, and she doesn't have to give [me] a dime of her millions," he told RadarOnline.com. "All I want is for her to call [her grandmother who is battling Alzheimer's disease] and say,'Hi grandma,' before it's too late."
"I love Kate, but... she had done stuff which is just awful," he continued. "She is a spoiled brat in my eyes and at the end of the day, she should meet her little sister. I should meet my grandchild and she should help her grandmother."
Kate and fiance Matt Bellamy welcomed son Bingham "Bing" Hawn Bellamy in June. She also has a 7-year-old son, Ryder, from her relationship with ex-husband Chris Robinson.

Both Naomi and her other daughter Wynonna Judd discussed how they were also victims of sexual abuse but were too ashamed to talk about it until now. \
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"I grew up in a family of secrets," Naomi Judd said \
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Wynonna said that they''re speaking out now because "I am so sick and tired of the problem being discussed on TV. I want to be part of the solution."\
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"The veil has been lifted," she added. "There are no more secrets. We can now live in truth."

I met a guy who had a reputation of being a great fuck. Rumor had it that even porn stars would go to home to get fucked.
He didn't have that great a face but was slim.
And yes there was something about his cock that still makes me remember it in my ass all these years later.
As we fucked, he suddenly said, "will you wear a woman's bra and panties for me? It really turns me on."
His cock felt so good that I would do anything for more. I put on the stuff and he kept asking, " doesn't it feel so good?" I could see him getting more and more turned on so I went along.
What an amazing night of fucking. Too bad he moved across country.

Rosie O'Donnell's marriage is beyond saving.
Calling her relationship with wife Michelle Rounds "irretrievably broken," the entertainer submitted divorce papers Friday in a Manhattan court, Yahoo has confirmed. The divorce will not be contested, indicating O'Donnell and Rounds will abide by their prenup and work out an amicable settlement. News of the filing was first reported by People.
There was no immediate comment from either side, but today's announcement was hardly a surprise. Just three weeks ago, O'Donnell, 52, cited the demise of her relationship as one of the reasons she was quitting The View.

How does she get by?\
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Where does her money come from? She left "Alice" 30 years ago and it''s not in re-runs or on DVD, so she''s not getting residuals from that series, and certainly not from "Flo", which lasted only a season and a half.\
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She''s worked only sporadically since then, and couldn''t have banked all that much money.\
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Poor dear is 73 and I''m worried about her. It''d be horrible if ol'' Flo was homeless and eating cat food!

Ronaldo was attending the official launch of his new underwear range, CR7, and anyone wondering what his debut collection looks like didn’t have to look too far - a 19-metre tall campaign image featuring the chiseled winger in all his glory was suspended above in the landmark building’s renaissance courtyard.
Meanwhile the man in question, never shy about coming forward, was clearly delighted as he posed for photos between its legs. ‘I am very proud to officially launch CR7 today and especially to see my campaign image displayed in this beautiful building, one of the most famous landmarks in Madrid,’ he said.‘I put a lot of passion and dedication into creating this new underwear line and I am delighted to finally launch it globally today. ‘
Ronaldo has previously modelled for Armani Jeans, but his latest campaign marks an inaugural brand venture and his first attempt at fashion designing. His design debut was aided by Richard Chai – best known for his collaborations with Marc Jacobs and Donna Karen.‘Fashion and design are two passions of mine and I have wanted to launch my own brand for a long time. Working on this collection alongside Richard has given me a great creative outlet and I have loved every part of collaborating on the range, from selecting the colours and designs to testing the styles and fits myself,’ he said. ‘I am very proud that the collection is launching worldwide today.’
Ronaldo's new underwear range will be available to buy via www.cr7underwear.com from November 1.

At first I thought "no."
Now, I'm not so sure.
I came clean with a guy I was attracted to when he asked why I was backing off from our friendship.
Time went by. I found out it wasn't so hard to be around him.
Now, something has settled in that's okay.
I'm sure it's different in every instance, but I found myself liking this guy more than I found myself loving him.
Anyone else been in a similar experience?

According to the guide, they are showing "Pretty Woman" on the ABC "Family" Channel. Is that appropriate?
Pretty Woman a movie about a horsemouth woman who fulfills all her dreams by becoming a street hooker. Is this an appropriate message for 12 year old girls?

I was wondering when this was going to happen. Nina Pham defended Dallas Presbyterian when she was under their care, but they let all of their personnel (and the public) down with their poor planning and response.
It's a very long article, so I won't post it. But two things stuck out. How can a modern hospital in a major metropolitan center not have any hazmat suits on hand?
[quote]The day Duncan moved to ICU, Pham said, she and the charge nurse went in with double gloves taped to double gowns and wore double booties and a face shield. The hospital did not have hazmat-type suits, and Pham said her neck was always exposed.
[quote]“We’ve had nurses that I’ve worked with that worked in other states, and they worked in hazmat suits for flu and H1N1,” Pham said. “Why aren’t we wearing hazmat suits for Ebola?”
And, they allegedly refused to protect her confidentiality in service of their PR needs.
[quote]She says that Texas Health Resources violated her privacy while she was a patient at Presbyterian by ignoring her request that “no information” be released about her. She said a doctor recorded her on video in her hospital room and released it to the public without her permission.
[quote]Before Pham’s flight to Maryland on Oct. 16, she said, a doctor wearing a video camera under his protective hood came into her room and said he was filming her for educational purposes. Pham said she did not give permission for the video, which was released to the media.
“Thanks for getting well. Thanks for being part of the volunteer team to take care of our first patient,” a man’s voice said in the video. “It means a lot. This has been a huge effort by all of you guys.”

The superstar has spoken about how she dabbled with drugs and would let her kids try them
Madonna has admitted she would let her children try drugs “in moderation”.
She confessed that she dabbled with various substances in her younger days but insisted she had not enjoyed the experiences.
During the revealing interview for ITV, show host Jonathan Ross said: “Let me ask you about a set of lyrics – in Devil Pray you talk about drugs... ‘we can get high, we can get stoned, we can do Es, we can do acid’.
“It’s a comprehensive list. You have tried, I’d have thought, many of them.”
Madonna, 56, nodded but said: “I am not a big fan of drugs. They just don’t suit me.
“The handful of times I have tried drugs, many many many many years ago, I just didn’t enjoy it. I wanted it out of me. I started guzzling bottles of water thinking that was going to end it.”
Jonathan then asked: “How do you talk to your children about that? Because every parent has to have the conversation in some shape or form.” Referring to her 18-year-old girl Lourdes, Madonna said: “I just ask my daughter to make wise decisions and to do things in moderation and to try not to mix her alcohol.
“I am not going to say ‘no, don’t do it’ because that is just absurd. And it is not fair. Yeah, I did it.”
Jonathan said: “Most young people I know are not into the dangerous drugs, they seem to like marijuana.”
Madonna replied: “Yeah, it’s legal.” But Jonathan advised the US star that it is not legal in Britain. The Queen of Pop also talked about her love life, saying she was single and “the right man would not be intimidated by me”.
She even spoke with fondness about past partners including British film director Guy Ritchie, 46, her husband for eight years until 2008.
And she said it was only bad timing that stopped her from having a longer relationship with actor Warren Beatty, who is 21 years her senior.
Madonna said: “There’s a perfect example of timing, because he was ready and I wasn’t quite ready.”
She also spoke with great pride about her four children – Lourdes, 14-year-old Rocco, and their younger siblings David and Mercy.
Madonna, who hit the headlines this week after falling off stage when she performed at the Brits, said “all of my ­children are talented”.

Interesting article on Ken Levine's blog about what an asshole Cosby was to work for, but the really interesting tidbits are in the comments section. It's worth a read.
One of the comments:
i worked for The Tonight Show during Johnny Carson's reign and when Bill Cosby was a regular Monday Guest host filling in for Johnny.
One particular Monday when Cosby was guest hosting and I wasn't more than 19 years old, I had the ONLY bad experience in my 9 years working on the show.
Cosby, Mr. Playboy Jazz Festival showed up early to listen to the Tonight Show Orchestra rehearse in the late afternoon. As Im standing by Doc Severinsen's podium, I kiddingly said to Mr Cosby: Good luck to your Sixers, but i think the Lakers are going to take this one. HE WENT APESHIT ON ME. Here I am a little girl in essence (only girl crew person in my career infancy) and he got right in my face screaming profanities at me pushing his chest out assaulting me while yelling at me! (over a basketball game? Come on!) It got so bad, violent, perverted, mean and frightening my guys from the crew and band members jumped to my defense saying to him is your career worth this, for gods sake she's a little girl! He was so in my face I truly feared he was going to hit me. Eventually the security took him from the studio until time for his monologue. Ive known for 30 years that Bill Cosby is a bully, crazy, untalented, pushy, racist, mean and and egocentric asshole! Ill spit on his grave when he dies and that couldn't happen soon enough!

Two enormous threads on the DL about her, never thought of her that way, yet, when I was an 8 year old wee baby gay and saw her in "Grease 2" and became obsessed with her and was so happy a few years later when she became a big star.

I swear I just noticed my warm brown eyes now have slate blue rings around them.\
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I''m firmly in middle age and I used to wear contacts (started with the hard ones in 1969) so I am used to looking closely at my eyes over the years.\
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Anyone else experience subtle eye color changes as you''ve aged?

You take your limo to the studio for hair + makeup and waddle out to your seat. There's several of them to carry the show. It's an hour of work and you get paid a lot of money.
Why would The View be "stressful"?

Not surprising. She's great. She's friends with Jessica and worked with Kathy twice. She was amazing in "Stardust". He wants Reese Witherspoon too, but I'm not getting that one. I trust him -- for the most part. I love Kathy and Angela this season!

First Oklahoma City took our beloved basketball team, the Seattle Sonics. Just this week, it's our Woodland Park Zoo's last two elephants, Chai and Bamboo being taken to new homes in a fancy park in, again, freezing cold Oklahoma City.
Some of are old enough to remember when these two were born, half a century ago!
And now .. the Space Needle. They're going to disassemble it and move it to, you guessed it, Oklahoma City. Evidently it's some kind of flat-Earth thing, with a light on top which they believe will be seen everywhere in the state except the panhandle. Can you believe it?
Don't let your city be taken away like this.

Once education, marital status and occupations are considered, the 'gender wage gap' all but disappears.
April 8 is "Equal Pay Day," an annual event to raise awareness regarding the so-called gender wage gap. As President Obama said in the State of the Union address, women "still make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns," a claim echoed by the National Committee on Pay Equity, the American Association of University Women and other progressive groups.
The 23% gap implies that women work an extra 68 days to earn the same pay as a man. Mr. Obama advocates allowing women to sue for wage discrimination, with employers bearing the burden of proving they did not discriminate. But the numbers bandied about to make the claim of widespread discrimination are fundamentally misleading and economically illogical.
In its annual report, "Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2012," the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that "In 2012, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $691. On average in 2012, women made about 81% of the median earnings of male full-time wage and salary workers ($854)." Give or take a few percentage points, the BLS appears to support the president's claim.
But every "full-time" worker, as the BLS notes, is not the same: Men were almost twice as likely as women to work more than 40 hours a week, and women almost twice as likely to work only 35 to 39 hours per week. Once that is taken into consideration, the pay gap begins to shrink. Women who worked a 40-hour week earned 88% of male earnings.
Then there is the issue of marriage and children. The BLS reports that single women who have never married earned 96% of men's earnings in 2012.
The supposed pay gap appears when marriage and children enter the picture. Child care takes mothers out of the labor market, so when they return they have less work experience than similarly-aged males. Many working mothers seek jobs that provide greater flexibility, such as telecommuting or flexible hours. Not all jobs can be flexible, and all other things being equal, those which are will pay less than those that do not.
Education also matters. Even within groups with the same educational attainment, women often choose fields of study, such as sociology, liberal arts or psychology, that pay less in the labor market. Men are more likely to major in finance, accounting or engineering. And as the American Association of University Women reports, men are four times more likely to bargain over salaries once they enter the job market.
Risk is another factor. Nearly all the most dangerous occupations, such as loggers or iron workers, are majority male and 92% of work-related deaths in 2012 were to men. Dangerous jobs tend to pay higher salaries to attract workers. Also: Males are more likely to pursue occupations where compensation is risky from year to year, such as law and finance. Research shows that average pay in such jobs is higher to compensate for that risk.
While the BLS reports that full-time female workers earned 81% of full-time males, that is very different than saying that women earned 81% of what men earned for doing the same jobs, while working the same hours, with the same level of risk, with the same educational background and the same years of continuous, uninterrupted work experience, and assuming no gender differences in family roles like child care. In a more comprehensive study that controlled for most of these relevant variables simultaneously—such as that from economists June and Dave O'Neill for the American Enterprise Institute in 2012—nearly all of the 23% raw gender pay gap cited by Mr. Obama can be attributed to factors other than discrimination. The O'Neills conclude that, "labor market discrimination is unlikely to account for more than 5% but may not be present at all."
These gender-disparity claims are also economically illogical. If women were paid 77 cents on the dollar, a profit-oriented firm could dramatically cut labor costs by replacing male employees with females. Progressives assume that businesses nickel-and-dime suppliers, customers, consultants, anyone with whom they come into contact—yet ignore a great opportunity to reduce wages costs by 23%. They don't ignore the opportunity because it doesn't exist. Women are not in fact paid 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same work as men.
Administration officials are (very) occasionally challenged on their discrimination claims. The reply is that even if lower average female pay is a result of women's choices, those choices are themselves driven by discrimination. Yet the choice of college major is quite free, and many colleges recruit women into high-paying science or math majors. Likewise, many women prefer to stay home with their children. If doing so allows their husbands to maximize their own earnings, it's not clear that the families are worse off. It makes no sense to sue employers for choices made by women years or decades earlier.
The administration's claims regarding the gender pay gap are faulty, and its proposal to make it easier for women to sue employers for equal pay would create a disincentive for firms to hire women.
Mr. Perry is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan's Flint campus. Mr. Biggs is a resident scholar at AEI.

The Journal Environmental Science and Technology reports in a new study that the Fukushima radiation plume contacted North America at California “with greatest exposure in central and southern California”, and that Southern California's seaweed tested over 500% higher for radioactive iodine-131 than anywhere else in the U.S. and Canada:
More at link.

I haven't seen this queen in 5 years, but I still hear from my friends that he's talking about me (including today). I've never done anything to him...and actually was "friends" with him for a few years (without a clue he was like this). Up until now, I've never bothered to think much about it or do anything - but now some of the comments are getting disgusting. When my brother died, he said "too bad it wasn't him"...and "why is he even alive anyway - who has use for that?"
I'm far from the only person who hates this queen, but at 34 years old (yes - not 14...34) - he can't find something better to do?? I want to pull the horse teeth out of her big flapping mouth with pliers at the moment. We don't live in the same city anymore...but we have dozens of mutual friends/acquaintances.
Just curious what you think - since you're all anon cunts on here... in real life, it gets far more on my nerves.

The new season starts tonight... will it recover after the world's suckiest season finale last year?
Will "Neverland" save this show? Will the spin-off survive?
Will Henry be found and saved? Will Mr. Gold forever be evil?
Does anyone in here still watch or care?

It's the 20th anniversary of EROTICA, and that for me was exactly when I realized she was just ridiculous and a famewhore. I've liked some of the things she's done since then (particularly "Ray of Light," one of her all-time best songs), but I've just not respected her generally for twenty years.

It looks like the old thread was deleted. Maybe it was the comments made about the building in Saudi Arabia.
I want to compliment the person who chose Lake Point Tower in Chicago and the attractive photograph.

There's this guy - gay, in NYC, great body, good job (all of which he's publicly disclosed ), I'd guess in his thirties - who posts endless endless endless pictures of himself on Instagram... usually shirtless, majority in his elevator on the way to work out. He's obviously in a relationship and quite sweet on the guy.
I know it's easy to just write off as narcissism - maybe it is - but I am mystified by it. Why does this guy, who has a great life on spec, post endless selfies? Why do you do it, if you do? Is it vanity? Insecurity? Cluelessness? I would have though beyond thirty you'd be moving away from 'look at me! look at me!'
I'm 40... so I'm well past the social media generation. But I don't get it and I am curious for some theories.

I found a check I got for doing some work from a company; it's dated about six months ago, but it says void after 90 days.
should I send it back and ask them to draw another one?
or should I try to deposit it and hope it clears?
it's under 200 bucks.

The damn thing was getting out and climbing all over my car, leaving paw prints, and shitting in my flower beds. So I called animal control and they brought me a trap, I trapped it, called them back, and they came out to pick it up.
Neighbor came home just in time to see the animal control van driving away. Now, I had never mentioned that I was going to call animal control or trap the cat, but I had told her about the cat prints and cat shit and asked her to keep her animal off my property. She offered some lame excuse and went on her sweet way.
But yesterday, she sees the animal control van and starts running down the street after it. Then she starts back toward the house, screaming at me "You'll pay for this!" as she runs in and slams the door.
Not 15 minutes later, she sends her sniveling little crotch dropping over to tearfully ask me why I took his cat away. I told him to go home.
This morning, I hear a big ruckus next door, car doors slamming, etc. So I peek out the curtain to see her and her son getting out of the car with the cat, making a big show of having gone and gotten it out of kitty jail, so I'd come out and see. I simply opened the door and waved at them, making sure they saw that I saw.
I'm sure I've started WWIII with these people now. Goddamn, they are tedious.

I understand he became truly insufferable once Star Trek re-runs went into syndication and he became perceived internationally as a larger-than-life figure--he completely bought into his own hype then.
But what was he like before then? I know he was a big player during his years shooting Star Trek and was fucking every single beautiful female guest star. Was he more normal despite being an enormous pussyhound? And what was he like before Star Trek?

Why is a man in his 60s becoming a woman.? just act like one dress like one , i guess if you want but it seems so very stupid. what if you woke up one day and decided you wanted to never age past 4yrs old would you go around dressed as a 4 yr old? no, this is like chaz bono just stupid

I was arrested last week for having my prescription pills in a keychain fob. You know, those things they sell at CVS right by the pharmacy prescription counter?
The cop asked for my prescription, and I actually had the bottle with the prescription label on it in a bag. But he arrested me anyway. Apparently it's still a crime. WTF?!
I ended up missing a day of work, and when they found out it was because I was being charged with possession, they let me go without any conversation.
My lawyer says it will likely be dismissed since I have prescriptions, but the damage is done.
My plan today is to get stoned! I haven't smoked weed in years, but hey, if I'm going to get fired for doing drugs, I might as well make it worth it.

Repost of the original video that started it all.\
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This is the place to post your daily trouser tenting stories - Co-workers, boss, delivery guys, random strangers on the street.\
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I will get things started with the little vid I captured on the NYC subway. Unfortunately, there is no visible trouser tenting and I only captured the last couple of minutes of this Exhib''s show on video.\
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But let me tell you, by the time I got to work, I was tenting myself. This guy sat across from me in his baggy gym shorts, tugging, squeezing and nonchalantly rearranging his dick, hands actually down shorts. Once is no biggie, twice, an itch maybe. But for five minutes this guy put on a show you could tell he wanted everyone else to see.\
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It''s subtle, but it''s there. Just watch the hands

Please be honest: how you do it, how often, and what impact it has made on your life. I recently retired
(at 63) and have done quite of bit of good reading, but I feel like my attempts are kind of haphazard and I'm not "doing it right." Which I know you're not supposed to feel, but still....any/all help is gratefully appreciated.

Event Date: Feb. 5, 2011, 8-10pm%0D\
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Description: Meet guys who are manly in appearance and interests. Get into four discussion groups about what masculinity means to you, and the kind of masculinity you seek, then meet guys one-on-one in a free mingling period. Finally, write a list of the men you want to date, and minutes later you find out your mutual matches. %0D\
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I know I''ll be there!%0D\
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